Undescribable
by feiry
Summary: Chapter 8 is up. Sakuno faces day to day hiatus as she meet the Tennis Regulars one by one. Who will fall in love with her? What will she do? and Who will she choose? SakunoxMulti for the moment but only one can end up with her!
1. Thoughts of Yesterday

Author's Note: This is my first fanfic so please bear with me and my doomed English. nn

Sakuno x Guys from Seigaku, Hyoutei, Rikkai, Fudomine, St. Rudolph, Yamabuki, Jyosei Shounan, Rokkaku and Shitenhouji

Chapter 1

Thoughts of Yesterday

It was a very fine day and a certain auburn haired girl was running frantically because she was late for a scheduled meeting. It was not like Ryuzaki Sakuno to be late but the thought of who she'll be meeting with really made her nervous.

A few weeks ago, after accidentally rescuing her friend, Tachibana An, from having a force date with Hyotei's Keigo Atobe, It seemed that the whole Hyotei tennis team including Atobe himself had fallen for her (she doesn't know that of course) In fact, they all wanted her to join their group outing to which Sakuno cannot reject because at that time Akutagawa Jirou was hugging her tightly and was sure that he'll not release her if she didn't say yes.

And so as "promise" she's making her way to the Nakizawagawa station to meet them.

Meanwhile at the station…

"Aaahhh… where is she? You think she will come Yuushi?" asked Mukahi

"You are really looking forward to see her, aren't you Gakuto?" said Oshitari teasingly

Gakuto blushed but he did not argued back because it was really damn true that he wanted to see her or maybe do more than see her, noticing this, Oshitari decided to teased his friend a little more.

"Silence means yes, Gakuto" he said as he was trying to hide the grin in his face

Gakuto blushed even harder and said, "O… Of… Of course I wanted to see her, After all, After all…"

"After all?" Oshitari asked his friend with a smile on his face

"After all, she's a schoolmate of Kikumaru, and I might get some information about him from her that might help me beat him next time in the court" Gakuto said, half stuttering, half blushing, "and, honestly Yuushi…" Gakuto continued, "I... I think I'm not the only one who wanted to see her today, I… I mean look at Jirou, he is not even sleeping because he knows he'll be meeting a special person today"

"Special person?" asked Oshitari amusingly

"I… I mean… "Gakuto seemed ready to boil but controlled himself

Oshitari patted him in the back thinking that he overdoes him and was really very sorry to his young friend's suffering heart and feelings.(nn)

And Gakuto seemed to have a point, Oshitari thought to himself, He was sure based on his observations that Gakuto is not the only one who's looking forward on seeing that petite little girl they met weeks ago, indeed he was sure of it.

Jirou was excitedly talking to Wakashi on how he will greet his so called "Saku-bear" when she arrives, Wakashi who was used on his senpai's childishness just keep on nodding on every word that Jirou said, but he can't also hide the fact that he was also wondering on how he will greet Sakuno when he see her.

Shishido, being the aloof and arrogant person Oshitari knew, seemed to be not on himself either, he even remembered that Shishido doesn't like hanging out with girls but now he's here and even looking excited. Shishido's partner, Ootori, seemed to feel the same way; he kept glancing on his watch and muttering something under his breathe which Oshitari "curiously "wanted to know.

Atobe seemed to be the only person who is not nervous (Of course), besides from Kabaji who remained expressionless, he's just standing there leaning on the wall with both eyes closed which made him cooler and handsome to look at, therefore attracting many passersby, especially young girls. (As usual), But Oshitari knew that he will be one no probably the most excited person here who wanted to see cute little Sakuno again, he had never seen Atobe that gentle to another person.

They were all in deep thought when suddenly a familiar gentle voice spoke

"Ano… Gomen" said a small voice

They all turned to the direction of the speaker and found Sakuno, half panting, half smiling. They all blushed at the sight of her (except Oshitari and Kabaji). They all had to admit it, even thought she's sweating like a pig, she still looks so adorable with those rosy red cheeks.

" Ohayou, Sakuno-chan, I hope you didn't get lost while making your way here" Atobe said trying to hide the admiration in his face

Sakuno blushed and at the same time confused, "How did Atobe knew she's bad in directions?" she wanted to ask him but half of her don't want to do it, so she remained silent.

Noticing this, Atobe scooped her up, much to Sakuno's surprised and kissed her near the lips and whispered " Damn,I miss", "Now this is getting ridiculous" Sakuno thought to herself, not noticing the murderous glare of the other regulars to Atobe, If one of Atobe's fan girl saw this Sakuno was sure she will be dead meat before she can say "fans", despite the fact that her heart was pounding so fast than its normal rate , she pulled herself together and asked Atobe to put her down, Atobe obeyed (for the first time in his life) and put her down gently. As her feet touched the ground, Jirou, came rushing down and hugged her, she was used of being hug like this because her Eiji-senpai would always do when he see her.

She was relieved when Ootori Choutari asked his senpai to release her for she was turning green; she then thanked Ootori who smiled back at her. Sakuno was now facing each Hyotei regulars, all of them were tall not to mention good-looking ( Kabaji? Uhm… you decide), she was sure that if she was one of those fan girls then she would die of happiness, but she was Ryuzaki Sakuno not one of those killer fans, she was used to be around with tall, good-looking guys with a rather good tennis skills for the Seigaku regulars had been hanging out a lot of time in their house trying to persuade her grandma to have fun with them and at the same time asking her permission if they could always bring Sakuno in their outings.

She then remembered the first time she saw these guys, she was scared of them, especially to Atobe, but now seeing them smiling at her made her really happy, also, she's a bit calmer around them now because for the past few days, she kept on bumping with them. (Fate, really!!!)

FLASHBACK

5 days ago (as she can remember), while walking on her way home, three guys tried to picked on her, she was really scared of them because they all looked like survivors of the Jurassic Era, the tallest among them and probably the ugliest grabbed her tightly on the wrist which really hurt her, she was about to shout when suddenly a tall guy kicked the tyrannosaurus -looking man who was holding her, she was freed easily and was about to fall when a warm hand caught her, she looked up and recognized the man easily, he was Choutarou Ootori and the man who had just saved her from being harassed was Ootori's doubles partner, Ryou Shishido.

"Bullying a girl huh? You should be ashamed of yourself; you even have the guts to hold a cute girl like that, with that face of yours? You're way uncool" said Shishido coolly

The ugly-looking man snarled angrily and tried to punch Shishido but he dodged it easily and gave the tyrannosaurus –looking man a punch he will never forget. His other companions, the scelidosaurus and corythosaurus looking ones backed off hurriedly after realizing that Shishido's not a man to mess with.

After that Shishido gave the tyrannosaurus-looking one a murderous glare which caused him to run as fast as he can, when they disappeared, Sakuno was so relieved her knees buckled and she slid to the ground. Ootori who had been standing by her side knelt down and asked, "Are you alright?"

Sakuno smiled a trembling smile and said, "H-hai, I'm fine, Ootori-san."

"I can't believe that you're the one who made Atobe knelt down on his knee" Shishido said to her teasingly

Sakuno knew he meant no harm with his words so she just smiled back at him, not noticing that Shishido blushed, and said "Thank You", Shishido then patted her head gently and said "Be careful next time, all right?"

Sakuno nodded and bowed, she was about to leave when suddenly Ootori held her by the hand, "I think it's better if we walk you home, ne Shishido –san?"

" Hai, we don't want something bad to happen to you or Atobe would skin us" he chuckled

Sakuno wanted to protest but before she can say anything, Ootori scooped her up and carried her like a kindergarten making Sakuno blushed ten shades of periwinkle

"Ano…. I… I… can walk by myself, Ootori-san" Sakuno said still blushing

"Lie… You look very tired so it's better if I carry you, and I think its about time you call me by my first name and so as Shishido-san" Ootori told her

Sakuno looked scandalized, "I can't do that, Ootori-san and Shishido-san are older than me so I should give them my respect"

"Calling us by our first names doesn't mean you disrespect us right?" Ootori said

Sakuno thought he have a point, so not wishing to argue anymore, she said softly, "All right, Choutaru-kun, Ryou-kun"

"Sounds great" both man said

Sakuno got surprised, but wanting to dispose the silence that struck the three of them she said, "Say, Choutarou-kun, Am I heavy?"

"Nah, I don't even feel that I'm carrying someone" Ootori said teasingly

"Mou, Choutaru-kun, don't be mean" she said, half laughing

"Honestly, you look okay to me, ne Shishido-san?" Ootori said tilting his head to Shishido's directions

Shishido nodded

"Uhmm… Choutarou-kun, you can put me down now, we're here already" Sakuno said pointing at her house

Ootori put Sakuno down, she then bowed at him and said, " Doumo, Choutarou-kun"

"So this is the house of the ferocious coach of Seigaku huh…" Shishido interrupted

"Heh, Ryou-kun don't be rude, I know she's scary sometimes but she's not the lion you think she is"

"Che… I'm just kidding" said Shishido after that he bent down a little and pecked Sakuno on the cheek, Sakuno and Ootori was shocked but Shishido seemed not to care at all, he even said " So now my little princess, I think its about time you enter your palace, it's getting late you know"

Sakuno bit her lower lip because of shyness when another lips touched her cheek, it was Ootori now who kissed her. Shishido's eyes narrowed a little but of course he didn't show it, he doesn't even know why he's acting like that, "The hell, I am thinking" he thought to himself, They remained silent for a while when Ootori finally spoke, "I think me and Shishido-san should be going now, please go in your house now, your obaa-chan might get angry at you"

Sakuno nodded but before she can even move, Shishido stood in front of her and knelt down with a small smile on his face, "I think Me and Ootori liked it", and without another word he patted again Sakuno's head and called on to Ootori, who smiled backed at Sakuno.

Sakuno bade them goodbye and went inside their residence

When Ootori realized that Sakuno's house where nowhere in sight, he faced his senpai seriously and said, "Shishido-san, we may be partners in doubles but I won't lose.. I won't lose to you…"

" Best man wins, Choutarou" Shishido told him grinning, Ootori nodded and smiled backed at his senpai, with that they started to walked on their way home…

Another time was when she bumped into Gakuto, Oshitari, Wakashi and Jirou last weekend, she was at a shopping mall waiting for Tomo when suddenly Tomo called to informed her that she cannot go due to an emergency call that her parents received and that she needed to take care of her younger brothers, Sakuno can't helped but to feel a little disappointed for she really wanted to check out the new shopping center that had just opened yesterday, due to her disappointment she did not noticed that four curious-looking guys were staring at her.

"Ryuzaki-chan!" they all called out

"Ah! Mukahi-san, Oshitari-san" Sakuno exclaimed

"Eh? What are you doing here?" Gakuto asked

Sakuno explained everything thing to them and after that Gakuto clapped his hand and said, "Then you are free today huh?"

"Erm.. I think so" she said in a low voice wondering what Gakuto was thinking

"Then you can come with us, ne Yuushi?" Gakuto said looking at his companion

"Of course" Oshitari said a little amused on how his friend act towards the little girl

"Yay!, So you'll come ne, Ryuzaki-chan?" Gakuto faced Sakuno again

Thinking that it would be really nice to hang out with them, Sakuno nodded happily and said, "Hai,I'll come with you then"

Gakuto flipped in the air with joy, and then asked Sakuno if she wanted to try out the arcade. Sakuno has never been to an arcade before so she innocently agreed and was pulled by Gakuto to the nearest arcade hurriedly; Oshitari who was still amused by his friend's behavior just followed quietly and decided that he will just watched the two for he was really enjoying himself. Sakuno never expect it, but she really enjoyed the time she spent in the arcade, Gakuto was a fun and kind person just like his Eiji-senpai, he teached her how to play lots of video arcade games like Air Assault, Galaga, Iron Man Stewart's Super Off road, Smash TV, and the one she enjoyed playing the most, Spy Hunter.

After a happy and hassle time in the Arcade, the tree of them (though Oshitari never played a single game) decided to grab a lunch for they were all getting hungry, on their way to a fast-food chain, Sakuno noticed two familiar boys, she then tugged Gakuto's T-shirt to asked him, " Anou.. Mukahi-san isn't that Akutagawa-san and Wakashi-san?" she said pointing at the two guys.

Gakuto agreed and shouted," Oi! Hiroshi, Jirou!", The two young man were surprised to see Gakuto and Oshitari, they run to their direction and Wakashi was about to greet his senpais when Jirou spotted Sakuno and his sleepy eyes changed to sparkling eyes.

"Wowwww!!!, Cute little Ryuzaki-chan is here!!!, I wonder why?" Jirou said, eyes still sparkling, "Don't tell me you're on a date with Gakuto and Oshitari?" Jirou continued, now having puupy eyes.

Sakuno and Gakuto's face were ten shades of turpentine, Noticing this, Oshitari was the one who explained to Wakashi and Jirou the reason why they are together.

" Nee, Why didn't you call us Oshitari?!, You're so lucky having a cute little doll like Ryuzaki with you all this time, You're so mean not to call us!"Jirou protested

Sakuno, being the innocent-natured girl she was, felt sad for Jirou, she wonder how to bring back Jirou to his bouncy personality again, and then the thought came to her mind.

"Anou, If you want Akutagawa-san, were going to a fast-food right now, and You and Wakashi-san can come, I… I'll treat you" she said stuttering

Jirou can't believe what he had just heard, so he asked Sakuno for confirmation, Sakuno nodded and much to her horror Jirou hugged her. Gakuto looked furious, he wanted to punched Jirou on what he did to _his _Sakuno, "wait a minute did he just called Sakuno his?, Sakuno was never his "he thought to himself, half disapproving, Wakashi and even Oshitari was surprised by Jirou's actions, sure he's like that when he's not sleeping, but that's the first time they saw him in a super excited mode.

Sakuno's face was as red as strawberry, she was used to being hugged like that by Eiji of course, but it's a different case now, she had just met Jirou weeks ago.

"Please Jirou-senpai, release Ryuzaki-chan now, she's turning green" Wakashi finally said

Much to Sakuno's relief, Jirou released her, she didn't even noticed the flaming aura surrounding Gakuto's entire body, Oshitari who's the only one realizing that Gakuto will soon erupt, asked all of them if they can go to the fast-food now. They all agreed even Gakuto who was now cursing under his breath.

As they entered the fast-food chain, Wakashi and Oshitari decided that they will be the one placing the orders, while Gakuto, Jirou and Sakuno find their seats, they asked the other three what they wanted to eat and set forth near the cashier.

Gakuto, Jirou and Sakuno decided to sit at the table near the glass windows, thankfully Gakuto was a lot calmer now because Sakuno was sitting beside him and not Jirou, he don't what to think about the possibilities he could have done if _his_ Sakuno sit beside Jirou instead of him. They were all chatting when Wakashi and Oshitari came with their food, Jirou hurriedly dived in after the tray has been put down by Wakashi and started eating, all of them followed as well, but in a gentle-manner of eating.

It was getting dark by then, so all of them decided to go home, Gakuto insisted that he'll take Sakuno home even she kept saying that she'll be fine, Jirou also wanted to come but Oshitari told him that its better if Jirou would accompany Wakashi instead which made Wakashi glare evilly at his senpai, "I'm not a kid anymore, senpai" he growled

Sakuno gave a small chuckle, making Wakashi blushed a little, "she's really cute" Wakashi thought to himself.

"All right, I'll let Gakuto take Ryuzaki-chan" Jirou finally gave up, with that Sakuno bade the other three good bye, which they all returned with a slight pat on her head and made their way to their direction.

Gakuto and Sakuno moved along also, as they were walking along the mid-light street, Gakuto held Sakuno's hand which made her looked at him curiously, He also looked down at her trying to hide the tint of red on his cheeks, "Sakuno… I… I… I just don't want you to get lost" he said with a bit of discontentment on his voice.

"Oh, I see, "Sakuno said, "Mukahi-san, you're so kind you know" she continued

"I am?" Gakuto said a little proud of himself

"Hai, We're not actually close but you made me feel as if you knew me for a long time" Sakuno said smiling.

Gakuto was about to reply when Sakuno spoke again, "Oh, were here, Mukahi-san, this is my house"

Gakuto was surprised and said, "I see, you're place is nice"

Sakuno laughed at him, "Arigatou, Mukahi-san"

"Mind if you call me Gakuto? I really appreciate if you do" Gakuto said

"Hai, Gakuto-kun, and I think it is just fair if you call me Sakuno" she said in reply

"Okay then, Konbanwa desu, Sakuno-chan"

Sakuno nodded and bowed at him, when she reached the door she looked back at him and waved, Gakuto then started to walked on his directions whispering under his breath, " Sakuno-chan, you're very special"

END OF FLASH BACK

Sakuno was still in deep thought of what had happened for the past few weeks when someone patted her back.

"Sakuno-chan, we're leaving now" Atobe said

"Ow, Gomen Atobe-san" she said

"Ore-sama didn't mind, let's go now" Atobe replied and he held Sakuno's hand

Sakuno, blushing, looked at Atobe, "Anou… Atobe-san, where are we going anyway?"

"Ore-sama wanted to surprise his princess so he won't tell it right now" he confidently replied

Sakuno just nodded and was surprised when she saw Atobe smiling at her; she smiled back at him, not even knowing what Atobe was thinking at that time.

"Oh my, Sakuno Ryuzaki, you really are different, but Ore-sama will have to pass through many rivals before I get a sure hold of you…"

END OF CHAPTER

Hope you enjoy! I really hope...

and please submit a review... Thank You!


	2. Date with Hyotei

Author's Notes: I just want to dedicate this chapter to luvcloud307, GinGaara and fanficgirl8, this is just a simple way of saying thank you for dropping a review. Thanks again.

Hope you like it!

Chapter 2

Date with Hyotei

"Young Master, we're here" a voice from the front of the car said

"Ah, I see" Atobe said

The whole Hyotei regulars including Sakuno where sitting on Atobe's limo for about half an hour now, trying to ask him for the hundredth time as of where he's taking them but Atobe would just reply the same thing, " Ore-sama thinks its better if you see it for yourself, ne Kabaji? "and afterwards the huge man would reply, "Ossu"

"So Atobe, are you going to tell us where the hell are we NOW?" Oshitari said impatiently

"Ore-sama…" Atobe was about to say the same reply when all of the regulars exempting Kabaji again finished the sentence for him, "We'll see it for ourselves" they all said trying to hide the entire grimace in their face. Sakuno controlled herself from giving a laugh and deliver it as a small cough.

The limo's car was opened and one by one the regulars went outside, followed by Kabaji then Sakuno then Atobe, All of them were thunderstruck at the sight that welcomed them, it was, it was…

"I can't get the point you're making out of your faces, but did Ore-sama's mini playground shocked you?" Atobe asked all of them

" Anou… Atobe –san…" Sakuno started

"Yes my princess?" Atobe said kneeling down on Sakuno

Sakuno was a bit used on Atobe's actions towards her now so she was a lot calmer to talk to him , "Is, this just a playground for you?" she said

" Why of course my princess, this is Ore-sama's _personal _playground for his guests"

"A personal playground?" Sakuno thought to herself

"This is more of an amusement park to me" Shishido interrupted as he can't stand Atobe's actions towards Sakuno any longer, hearing Atobe's voice calling Sakuno, "_his_ princess" made him feel sick.

"You're right, Ryou-kun" Sakuno told him

Shishido looked down on her and patted her head as he always do and said pointing on one of the huge ride, " Wanna ride one of those Arrowhead Splashdown?"

" No, not now, Ryou-kun, I'm a bit scared of heights" she said a little embarrassed

"Wait a minute", Atobe called out, "My princess, is it just me or did I really heard you call Shishido by his first name?"

Sakuno nodded which gave Atobe a scandalized look, but before he can say anything, Jirou came bouncing up and down to Sakuno saying, " Saku-bear let's go ride one of those lumberjack falls and that Pirate ship and everything!"

"What did you just called my princess Jirou?, Sakuwhisit?" Atobe asked Jirou

"Saku-bear! Saku-bear Atobe!" Jirou said bouncily

"And may Ore-sama asked why you gave that name to my princess?"

"It's simple! Because Saku-bear is as huggable as my teddy bears at home! More huggable I should say!"

Another voice interrupted when Atobe was about to speak, "What did you say Jirou? You still have teddy bears? At _this_ age?" Gakuto asked, so surprised that someone still carry teddy bears at the age of fourteen.

"Hai! I've got three huge and fluffy teddy bears at home, all in different colors, Brown, White and Pink!, I'm afraid I don't let anyone borrow it though but you're an exemption my Saku-bear" Jirou said proudly.

"Che, Jirou, I think you're the only one I knew who still had teddy bears at this age" Gakuto said

"Anou… Gakuto-kun, I think there is another guy you _knew_ who still have teddy bears and really love teddy bears" Sakuno said while looking up at Gakuto.

Everyone stared at her.

"Anou… What I mean is, ah… Eiji-senpai has a teddy bear named Daigoro-kun"

By the mention of Eiji's name, Gakuto blurted out, "That moron still have a teddy bear considering he's my MAIN rival?!"

"Heh… Gakuto-kun don't belike that, Eiji-senpai is not a moron" Sakuno defended

"Hai, hai, Gomen, Gomen" Gakuto said swaying his hands freely in the air

They all laughed by the thought that Gakuto can be beaten easily by a little girl, even Atobe agreed, making Gakuto really irritated, "I'm not! " he said blowing his mouth making his cheeks bubbled up.

And before everything gets worse, Atobe finally ordered everyone to follow him so that they can start riding every rides on his considered mini-playground, While walking he explained everything about his grounds starting from the layout up until how the place is divided according to its attraction. The place surely is big, There's the Water Park containing rides like Zooma Falls, Hooks Lagoon, Konga River Tube Slides, Python Bonzai Giant Waterslide, Wave pool and many more Giant Waterslides, There's the Dodge'ms Bumper Cars, The Gambler, and a wooden roller coaster called the Timberhawk: Ride of Prey, Ghost train, Ghost Ship, Ghost house and everything full of ghosts and monsters, Sky Dive, Dangler, Wild Thing Rollercoaster and the most favorite of couples, The Ferris Wheel.

Jirou was so excited he wanted to try everything on the same time; he even wanted Sakuno to accompany him in every ride which of course he didn't get because the others also wanted a ride with Sakuno which gave Oshitari a very nice idea of having a draw so that it will be clear who will be Sakuno's partner in each ride. Everyone seemed to be interested and so they draw.

"Yay! I've got the Dodge'ms Bumper Cars! And it's the nearest too, meaning I'll be Saku-bear's _first _partner!!!" Jirou exclaimed

Sakuno just giggled at the sight of Jirou bouncing like a kangaroo, she then asked the others what ride they picked.

"Got the roller coaster ride" Shishido said, "What about you Choutarou?"

"The Ghost train" Ootori replied then turned around on Sakuno, "You aren't scared of freaking and jumping monsters, are you?"

"Not really Choutarou-kun, Shusuke-kun always took me to scary attractions whenever we have outings with the Seigaku regulars" Sakuno replied

The subject about the Seigaku regulars taking Sakuno with them on their outings seemed to interest at the same time irritate the Hyoutei regulars but because this should be a day to relax and have some fun they all controlled their selves and tried to act normally.

"I've got the Sky Dive, Sakuno" Gakuto suddenly said, "Scared of heights?"

"A… a bit…"

"How about you Atobe?" Oshitari asked their buchou

"Ore-sama got the most interesting ride" Atobe said, "You'll see later"

Not wishing to have another guessing game with Atobe, Oshitari asked all of them if they were all ready to dig in the fun, "Hai!" the others said

After that Jirou hurriedly and excitedly grabbed Sakuno towards the Bumper Cars place, he then asked Sakuno what car she like to used, Sakuno pointed at the pink one and Jirou pulled her quickly, she almost tripped but it seemed that Jirou have a full control on her, the others just followed the two of them for they were sure no one can stopped Jirou in his hyperactive mode, Sakuno was even sure that her senpai's Revised Special Golden Power Remix Inui-juice Neo would not affect Jirou.

Sakuno had lots of fun riding the bumper car with Jirou, He's a very good manipulator, even though the others kept targeting them, they didn't even bumped with a single car, Sakuno thought it's because of Jirou's quick reflexes. They turned left, right, curled, forward, even zoom, she felt a little dizzy after the ride though but because of the enjoyment she had, it did not bother her.

Next stop was the Sky Dive with Gakuto, Sakuno was a bit scared to try it but Gakuto ensured her safety and jokingly said " Don't worry, its just a 125-foot free fall"

She was encouraged by those words and so she fastened her safety belt, looked at Gakuto for the last time because she was not sure if she's still alive after this ride, sighed heavily not even noticing that they were slowly moving upward now and then heard the speaker said, " 10 seconds before the fall" , and there it go, "AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Sakuno screamed as they were falling down, Gakuto was really amused that she's a bit scared and just decided to shout with her. All of them felt like they're all Superman rushing down for a save-the-day promo!

As her feet touched the ground, Sakuno was so relieved but she really did not expect that Sky Dive was fun too, Atobe came up to her and asked if she was okay, she nodded happily and proceeded for the next ride, this time, the roller coaster with Shishido.

Sakuno can't wait to ride the roller coaster, it was her favorite among everything else, and she was so excited that she pulled Shishido by the arm. Shishido was amused by her behavior and so he hurried up. As they approached their seats , the operator told them to wear some jackets that he is handling to them, they were all confused except for Atobe, they all wanted to asked the operator the reason why they have to wear jackets, unfortunately, the roller coaster started moving and they all hurried up to put their jackets on, it did not took time for them to realize the purpose of the jackets, for when the roller coaster started moving it heads forward on some sort of a tunnel which contains a man-made mount Everest, and for it to be more realistic the Atobe family set up some snow maker so the people riding in the supposed-to-be-a-normal-roller-coaster feel like they were traveling, they exited the tunnel full of snows on their heads and shoulders, they don't have the time to asked Atobe how did they made such a wonderful thing for they were now entering another tunnel and were all very excited what to see next, and soon enough after passing through about 49 tunnels, they all felt as if they travelled the whole world, Atobe's roller coaster was a bit slower than the usual rate of a normal roller coaster, Oshitari, who was sitting behind Shishido and Sakuno, hypothesized that it was for the riders to enjoy the view while riding the coaster. Gakuto who was sitting next to Oshitari told them that he'd probably called this as "a travel coaster" than a roller coaster, Jirou, Wakashi, Shishido and Sakuno all agreed. Atobe, who was sitting in front of Sakuno and Shishido, together with Kabaji, seemed not to hear anything, much to their relief, because for sure he'll try to defend his coaster up until he lost his strength to talk.

They all enjoyed the ride that they not even noticed it was almost lunch time, it was all thanks to Jirou's stomach which gave a horrible sound that they all agreed to eat first before continuing their tour in Atobe's park, with Atobe's magical snap, all of them were facing feast of food, there were roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, fries, Yorkshire pudding, block of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs, doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding and so many more!

They all helped themselves and started eating, Sakuno was sitting next to Atobe, she was so surprised when Atobe told her that there are remains of ice cream on her cheek and suddenly licked it, she was so embarrassed that she did not know what to say, luckily no one seemed to noticed it for they were all chatting happily with each other, Sakuno faced Atobe and asked him not to do that anymore, Atobe just smiled at her and murmured, "All right"

When all of them had eaten as much as they could, they decided to rest for a while, Jirou asked them if they could spend it by buying souvenirs so that they will not cram later if they don't have much time left, they all agreed and so Atobe lead them the way, Sakuno thought of buying all her friends some stuff souvenirs so she asked Atobe where could she buy it, Atobe accompanied her to a cute store where lots of stuff toys are being sold, also Atobe told Sakuno to feel free of choosing whatever she liked and have it for free, Sakuno protested, seeing that she will not stop protesting, Atobe told her that she can repay it by cooking him some bentos ,Sakuno was still not convinced by the offer but Atobe insisted so she agreed.

When Sakuno finished choosing souvenirs, Atobe told some of his staff to carry it to the cashier and wrap it up, at the same time Jirou and Gakuto were running towards Sakuno to gave her some presents, they both told her to open it when she reached home and so she nodded, Shishido, Ootori, Wakashi, Oshitari and even Kabaji all said that they'll just give Sakuno their presents later so Sakuno would not carry lots of thing as they will have more rides to enjoy. She was so happy that the only thing she could say was "Thank You".

Atobe, who was standing beside Sakuno, bent a little and whispered to her that he'll also give his present later, not knowing what to say, she just nodded.

After that, they all decided to continue with their tour, it was now Ootori's turn to accompany Sakuno on the ghost train, before getting aboard on the train, Oshitari suggested to them that everyone should sit two compartment away from the other and that each compartment should only have one person inside it exempting Ootori and Sakuno, Gakuto gulped by the though of sitting alone in a dark train and going inside to a tunnel full of scary and monstrous things, but wanting to keep his pride, he nodded as well as the others.

As soon as all of them were seating in their respective compartments the train starts moving slowly preparing to enter the tunnel of doomed (as Gakuto would call it), Sakuno can't helped but to feel a bit scared, Ootori seemed to noticed this and so he placed a hand on Sakuno's shoulders, it made Sakuno feel warm and a bit braver, the train was moving slower and slower, Sakuno's eyes were wondering around the scary tunnel, it was full of horrible features like scary-looking witches, Masks, Mummies, Trolls, etc. She was so busy looking around when suddenly, "AAAAAAH!!!! A MONSTER!!!! ", a very scary figure hopped on their compartment and tried to pull Sakuno away from Ootori, Sakuno got so scared that she screamed and screamed, " CHOUTAROU-KUN IT'S HOLDING ME!!!IT'S HOLDING ME!!!", she's panicking like a maniac that Ootori was having a hard time pulling her away from the monstrous figure, at last Ootori had pulled her away from the scary thing and wrapped her in his warm and cozy embrace, she was crying because she was surprised at the same time scared, sure her Syuuske-kun took her to many scary places but none of them had a Voldemort-looking-one trying to kidnapped you to used your blood for his immortality (kidding!), Ootori was patting her head because she was still crying, she didn't even noticed the position she was in with Ootori, oh my I don't know how she will react when she noticed their position.

At last, the ride has come to its end and Ootori was now carrying Sakuno (kindergarten style), it seemed that she's not the only one who got scared, she saw Oshitari fanning a stunned Gakuto, Wakashi on the other hand was trying to wake Jirou up, Jirou didn't fell asleep, he collapsed. Atobe came up to them saying, "Oh my, Oh my, is Ore-sama's ghost train that scary?", he then moved on Ootori who was still carrying Sakuno, Atobe eyed Ootori anxiously but then turned to Sakuno, "Princess, did you got scared?" Sakuno nodded a little but also said that she's fine.

Atobe then turned and faced the others, Sakuno asked Ootori to put her down cause she's fine now, he smiled at him and put her down, Wakashi, to her surprised, approached her and asked, " Do you still wanted to enter the ghost house?", seeing that Sakuno was confused he added, " Don't worry, we can take other rides" then smiled at her.

Sakuno then nodded and asked him if they could just take the Waterslides, "Of course" Wakashi told her happily, He then informed Atobe about their decision and without hesitation he asked them to follow him to the Waterslides, Kabaji needed to carry Jirou because he was still unconscious, luckily for Oshitari, Gakuto was now backed on his usual self. Shishido and Oshitari can't help but to laughed at Gakuto, they teased him all the way up until they reached the waterslides.

It was a very good decision to take the Waterslides instead of the Ghost house, it made Sakuno feel a lot better, Wakashi was a nice companion, he shout at the same time that Sakuno will do. At last the ride had ended and Sakuno realized that it was now Atobe's turn to accompany her.

"Atobe-san, you still haven't tell us, what ride you got" she said

"My princess, the ride I got is standing behind us" Atobe said

They all turned around and "WHAT?! YOU'RE SO LUCKY ATOBE!!!" shouted all the boys (except for Kabaji), Oshitari said the same thing but in a low voice.

"Ferris Wheel" Sakuno said

Atobe smiled at her and said, "Shall we go then?"

"Hai" she said, but before she could walked the other guys stopped her and said, "Be careful , Sakuno-chan"

She was so confused why they said such thing but Atobe called on her and so she followed. Everyone took their seats; Gakuto was still whispering with Oshitari with a worried face, "Do you think Atobe will do it?", "Who knows" replied Oshitari

"I'll kill Atobe the next time I see him in the court" Shishido thought to himself

"Buchou's so lucky" Ootori and Wakashi said together softly

The Ferris wheel started moving in a slowly upward motion, it was nearing sunset by then and Sakuno was excited to witness such thing

"You seem excited, princess" Atobe told her

"The sunset will take place soon" she said smiling

"You also love the nature, princess?"

"Hai, it's the most beautiful priceless thing ever"

Atobe grin, silenced occurred to them for a while, Sakuno then stood up to have a better view of the sunset she's waiting, and there it goes, she can almost see the sun saying goodbye to nature, she was so happy, comfortable…

"Nani?"

Atobe grabbed Sakuno by the waist, but before she could say anything, Atobe's lips pressed against hers, he was completely devouring her lips. "Man, her lips taste so good" Atobe thought to himself, he tilted his head to deepen their kiss, he wrapped Sakuno protectively in his arms, he wanted her like this…

Sakuno still can't believe what had just happened; she was quiet by the time she and Atobe came out from the Ferris wheel, the others did not noticed that her face was blushing so much like a tomato, they were all happily chatting on how fun the day was.

Sakuno wanted to ask Atobe the reason he did that but she'll asked him later, when the others are gone. Soon enough she found herself sitting in Atobe's limo, one by one the other regulars bade goodbye, Shishido and Ootori was the first one to go, leaving Sakuno their presents for her, she smiled backed at them, not wanting them to know what had just happened, Oshitari and Wakashi then followed Shishido and Ootori, Kabaji and Gakuto decided that they will take Jirou home as he was now in dreamland.

And now, It was just her and Atobe, Sakuno can't find the right words to say, but Atobe, being Atobe, knew she was still feeling awkward so he decided to speak at last." Princess" he called on to Sakuno

Sakuno was surprised but replied. "H… Hai"

"Ore-sama didn't mean to harm you on what he did earlier; he just wanted to express his feelings…"

"Wh… What do you mean Atobe-san?"

Atobe smiled at her, Sakuno noticed that his smile seemed to be different, its like a very gentle smile, this made her feel safe with Atobe, so she speak again, " I still don't know your reason for doing that Atobe-san but … I … I think you're reason will be a worthy one"

Atobe was so surprised by this, "You're really interesting" he said in a low voice

"Not quite" Sakuno said beaming, it was a long ride before they reached Sakuno's house, and by that time she was peacefully sleeping on Atobe's lap.

She did not know that Atobe was the one who carried her to their house nor that he's also the one who put her in bed, that he gave her a gentle goodnight kiss, and that he whispered to her, "I love you and will always protect you"

The only thing that she knew was that Atobe along with the other Hyotei Regulars had become part of her special someones...

END OF CHAPTER

Sweats and Nosebleeds

At last, I finished the second one!!!

Sorry if I didn't meet some of your expectations but I really put my best in making this because I really want to dedicate this to those three who gave inspiring comments... Thanks again...


	3. Bittersweet

Author's Notes: GinGaara: thanks for that review again! Thumbs up, really! Kathleen: thanks for the text cheers and hope to see you next June girl! Jellypuppy: I appreciate your comment a huge thanks! And Mou'Ikka: right! They are all in high school-mode but still I portray Sakuno to be the same short, adorable, shy and resident cutie of POT…

I DON'T OWN POT, BUT IT'S REALLY MY GRAETEST DREAM

Chapter 3

Bittersweet

Sakuno woke up on a dull, gray Sunday still tired of the outing with the Hyotei regulars yesterday, she slowly got up of her bed and started combing her long, beautiful hair and neatly tied it in its usual twin braid style.

When she was dressed, she went downstairs into the kitchen where she found her grandmother watching the morning news with a certain handsome brown-haired young man.

"Shusuke-kun!" Sakuno exclaimed, not knowing what the hell her senpai was doing in their house

The charming Fuji turned his head to see a bewildered Sakuno with her mouth slightly opened. He smiled at her and greeted her calmly. Sakuno was embarrassed by this, and so she greeted back her senpai in an undertone voice and silently took her seat beside her Obaasan still wondering why her senpai was there.

"So Fuji, I think it's about time I hand you the letter, your company is awake now after all" Ryuzaki-sensei said

And with those words, a thought suddenly struck Sakuno's mind, she just remembered that her Obaasan asked her few days ago if she could come with Fuji to deliver a letter to St. Rudolph which she _whole heartedly_ accepted. "How stupid of me!" she thought to herself.

"Anou… " Sakuno started, "Gomenasai Obaasan, I had completely forgotten that I will accompany Shusuke-kun to St. Rudolph today", she can almost hear her heart clobbering on what her Obaasan will say. To her surprised, both Ryuzaki-sensei and Fuji laughed.

"It's all right Sakuno-chan, we're just kidding you" Ryuzaki sensei said laughing

"Sensei knew that you really forgot her favor, Sakuno-chan" Fuji said

Sakuno's face was as red as tomato; she apologized over and over again to her Obaasan and Fuji which they warmly accepted. Sakuno then hurriedly went to her room to change and after a minute or so she's back at the kitchen looking seriously ready. Ryuzaki-sensei and Fuji was so amused by her actions that they can't help themselves but to grin.

"Mou… relax Sakuno, you'll just deliver a letter" Ryuzaki-sensei told her granddaughter teasingly

Sakuno seemed to understand her obaasan's point and so she breathed deeply and sighed, "I'm okay now, Obaasan, Shusuke-kun"

Ryuzaki-sensei gave the letter to Fuji who put it securely in his bag, he then called Sakuno and both bade goodbye to Ryuzaki-sensei. While walking, Fuji held Sakuno's hand which seemed to be normal for her now; she was used to her senpai's action towards her because she had been hanging out with him recently for he was her tutor in English, its all thanks to him that English was not an alien language to her anymore.

They arrived at the bus stop and luckily caught up with the first bus, after about fifteen minutes of travelling, they reached St. Rudolph which was unbelievably crowded, Sakuno looked like she'd just swallowed a whole watermelon, "Its Sunday today isn't?" she thought to herself.

Noticing the look on her face, Fuji told Sakuno that St. Rudolph will soon celebrate its school anniversary and will do it in a festival way. Sakuno was astonished by this, she kept looking around to watched students as they build up their own booths, she was so flabbergasted by her surrounding that she didn't even notice where she's going and ended up bumping into someone. She almost fell when fortunately Fuji caught her.

"Ah… Gomen" a voice said

Fuji and Sakuno both looked at the speaker

"Yuuta" Fuji greeted his brother as he was helping Sakuno to stand properly

"Aniki…" Yuuta said looking surprised, "What are you doing here…" he continued as his hazel eyes turned into Sakuno, "with ah… uhm… a _cute _girl?"

Sakuno blushed while Fuji explained to his younger brother their purpose of coming to his school.

"I see" Yuuta said, his eyes turning on Sakuno, "Ah… so you're Ryuzaki-chan then?"

Sakuno nodded and said shyly, "Anou… Sorry for bumping into you… Fuji-san"

"Ah... It's all right" Yuuta said not knowing what to say, he was no good on talking to girls especially to shy ones, " Just… ah… call me Yuuta" he said blushing, Fuji saw this and because he's one hell of a sadist he mischievously said, " I wonder why you're blushing Yuuta"

Yuuta redden; "Aniki!" was the only thing he said as he was used on his brother's actions

Fuji laughed and Sakuno gave out a small snigger, Yuuta was relieved that Sakuno looked a bit soother and because he wanted to change the topic he abruptly said, "I'll accompany you to the faculty room then, aniki"

"Oh, All right then" Fuji said, and he and Sakuno followed Yuuta who lead them in the main building, as they reached the faculty room, Yuuta slid the door open and greeted the only person who was sitting in the front desk near the door.

"Oh, Yuuta, do you need something?" the man asked

"Ahm, no, I just escorted my brother here to give you an important letter, sensei" Yuuta replied

"Oh" the man said, now looking at Fuji, "I suppose that's the letter from Ryuzaki-sensei?"

"Hai" Fuji said as he handed the letter to the man who got up from his chair and claimed the letter, the man thanked Fuji who then bowed and left the room with Yuuta and Sakuno.

"Anou…Yuuta-kun who was that man?" Sakuno asked as they slid the door closed

"He's the tennis club's organizer" Yuuta said smiling, "Anyway Ryuzaki-chan, do you want to look around for awhile?"

Sakuno looked blissful, she look up to Fuji to seek permission, and of course, Fuji agreed and said, "Yuuta, what will your class do for your school fest?"

Yuuta then told his aniki and Sakuno that they're going to have some sort of a café that will sell traditional drinks beverages and pastries, Sakuno asked if she could see their place and Yuuta was very pleased to do so. He lead them to where his classroom was and when Yuuta opened the door, Sakuno saw a bunch of people, all in working-mode, walking here and there decorating their classroom with some kind of weird fluffy things, "It's the girls idea" she thought to herself, she can even attest it by the horrible looks on the boys faces including Yuuta.

"Oi, Tsuchiura-san" Yuuta called out a dark green haired boy who was standing still in front of them, the guy turned around, he too, on Sakuno's opinion, look staggered by the way their classroom appear, " What _happened _here?" Yuuta asked

"Those _stupid_ girls put them up" Tsuchiura replied pointing to a group of girls holding some of the peculiar fluffy stuff

Yuuta sighed heavily and said, "I think we'll have an embarrassing fest", the Tsuchiura guy nodded and marched forward to the group of girls who were holding the weird stuffs and started convincing them to move the horrible things out for the whole class' sake.

"I think they're appealing" Fuji said from nowhere

Yuuta looked at his brother with a disbelieving look and said in a very loud voice that he attracted the attention of his whole class, "WHAT DID YOU SAY ANIKI?! THOSE STUFFS ARE … ARE… LIKE GALLOPING GORGONS!", Sakuno who had been standing next to Fuji was astounded by Yuuta's actions, she even thought what on earth galloping gorgons are, she decided she'll ask Yuuta later, when he's back to his normal self.

All eyes were now on the three of them, for a _minute_ the whole class were covered with silent when suddenly all the girls of Yuuta's class squealed and started running towards Fuji!, Sakuno had to shut her ears in the oven door for her stupidity again she murmured to herself, how could she forgot she was with a famous and probably one of the hottest hunk in the history of Junior High?, She needed not to dodge all the girls who crumpled around Fuji asking for his autograph, they did it themselves and pushed Sakuno out of their way.

Sakuno was sent out of the classroom and fell on the ground with her face first, she slowly tried to get up when someone aided her, she looked up and saw a black-haired guy suiting a red head band, she examined him as he was helping her to stand up properly," he seemed to be familiar" Sakuno mumbled, the guy knelt down to brushed Sakuno's blouse because it had been full of dust, Sakuno was embarrassed and told the guy that she's fine. The guy looked up, his face leveled with Sakuno, who was feverishly blushing, and said, "Are you sure?"

Sakuno nodded, the guy then stood up and smiled, "You shocked me when I saw you fell face first on the ground"

Sakuno's face was still red, before she could reply, Yuuta and her Shusuke-kun came out from the classroom with muddled hairs, they both looked as if they just survived a war of struggling, Sakuno walked towards the both of them and asked if they're fine, the two boys nodded and beamed at her, Yuuta then notice the guy who had just helped Sakuno and said, "Kisarazu-senpai". Sakuno then realized that she really did saw the guy before, months ago, when Seigaku come face to face with St. Rudolph, she saw him play a match against her Momo and Kaidoh-senpai.

"Yuuta" he greeted back, his eyes then fell to Fuji whom he also greeted, they bowed at each other at the same time, and then to Sakuno who was now clutching Fuji's shirt.

"I never knew you have a younger sister Yuuta" Kisarazu said as he was still gazing at Sakuno

"You're mistaken senpai, Ryuzaki-chan is not our sister, she's a friend of ours" Yuuta replied

"Ryuzaki?" Kisarazu said in an inquisitive voice, "Is she, by any chance, related to Seigaku's coach Ryuzaki-sensei?"

Both the Fujis' nodded. Kisarazu seemed to be a little surprised, "She's Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter" Yuuta explained

" She don't look like her " Kisarazu said, making Yuuta, Fuji even Sakuno laughed, she was used to hear those words, she can't helped it but when someone learned that she's Sumire Ryuzaki's granddaughter all of them were mortified and will say the exact same words that Kisarazu had said, even Kisarazu grinned a little by his words.

"Anyway, what brings you here?" Kisarazu asked facing the older Fuji

"Ryuzaki-sensei asked me and Sakuno-chan to deliver a letter to your club organizer" Fuji replied

"I see" Kisarazu said

"Anou…" Sakuno cut of, "Arigatou Gozaimasu Kisarazu-san"

"It's nothing "said an embarrass Kisarazu

The Fuji brothers looked oddly from Kisarazu to Sakuno, they're still unacquainted that Sakuno had been chucked out by the girls who had just harassed Fuji, Sakuno did not want them to know because she was positive her Shusuke-kun would get _really_ mad, fortunately for Sakuno, Kisarazu noticed this so he swiftly changed the subject and asked them if they wanted to grab some lunch.

The other three agreed and so they head towards the cafeteria, It was full of students chatting happily with each other, "it seemed that it's not Sunday today for your school" Fuji told Yuuta and Kisarazu, who merely nodded and went straight to buy some food. Fuji and Sakuno followed them.

After they ordered, they chose to sit on the table near the door, just to make sure that they'll have a way out when Yuuta's classmates plan to harass his aniki again. The Fuji brothers were in deep conversation, Sakuno was very happy for her senpai who was really looking forward to see his younger brother; she let the two have the bonding they both missed for a long time and was about to eat her lunch when Kisarazu talk to her.

"Ryuzaki-chan, do you like unagi?" he asked looking directly at Sakuno

"Hai" Sakuno said softly, trying to figure out what Kisarazu was thinking

"Do you mind if I gave you some?"

"Sure, but why?"

"My lunch have lots" he said grinning

Sakuno smirked; she nodded and handed out her plate but Kisarazu did something different, he picked the unagi with his chopsticks and placed it near Sakuno's mouth, he wanted to fed Sakuno, his eyes were signaling Sakuno to open her mouth and because she doesn't know what to do, she opened her mouth and eat Kisarazu's unagi. Yuuta and Fuji noticed this and were both looking at Kisarazu as if he's a filthy slug.

"Ahm… er… I don't know you're that _sweet _when it comes to girls, Kisarazu-senpai" Yuuta said not knowing if he should laugh or not, he didn't even notice the dark aura surrounding his aniki's body

Kisarazu seemed to be surprised also on what he just did, his hands were trembling, he doesn't know why he did that, he can feel something different and his heart was hammering so fast, "what the heck is this feeling?"He asked his self, he looked at Sakuno, who was innocently staring at him, suddenly he blushed, "CODSWALLOP BITTER HERBS!!! DUKE OF BRITAIN HELP THIS FLIRT!" what on earth is he saying to himself.

Anou… is there something wrong with you; Kisarazu-san?" asked Sakuno, "You're pale"

"Ah… no… I'm fine" Kisarazu said, still wondering what he's doing

Fuji was now frowning, wanting to break the awkwardness between the four of them, he said, "I think we should hurry up and finish our lunch, I believe you still need to help for the preparation of your school festival, ne Yuuta, Kisarazu?

"Ah hai…"

Sakuno was staring at the three boys not knowing what's going on, Fuji looked at her and told her to finished her lunch _as fast as she can_, Sakuno noticed that his voice was a bit stiff, feeling a bit scared she do what he told her.

After finishing their lunch, Fuji held Sakuno's hand and was about to bade Yuuta goodbye when Sakuno spoke.

"Anou… Yuuta-kun, Kisarazu-san, "she said, "can... can I go here with Shusuke-kun this Friday to see your festival?"

Fuji noticed that Sakuno emphasized his name, and this calmed him. He had to admit it to himself that he has been overprotective of Sakuno and the thought of some guys being close to her irritate him, but as he said to himself, Sakuno's adorable; he can't control those boys who fall for her and so he decided to just let it flow in a _manageable _manner.

"Of course you can" Yuuta said

"You can even invite your friends with you, the more the merrier" Kisarazu said gladly

Sakuno jumped of happiness, Fuji was pleased that she's happy, he fling his arm around her shoulders, Sakuno looked up and smiled at her senpai who smiled back at her. Afterwards they bade goodbye to Yuuta and Kisarazu who waved back at them as they're exiting St. Rudolph.

Sakuno felt that she had a very nice day, while on their way to the bus stop, she leapt on Fuji, pecked him on the cheek, and thanked him; Fuji was surprised by her actions but did not have a chance to speak because the bus had arrived.

He helped Sakuno to step in the bus, after that he carried her and put her on his lap, they will look like a very sweet couple, if it's not for the fact that Sakuno's really small and looked like Fuji's little sister. Fuji didn't mind it because he knew he loved this girl, this stunningly pretty girl who acts as innocent as ever, Fuji pulled Sakuno's head gently towards his chest, his one hand on Sakuno's shoulder the other on Sakuno's hands, he kissed Sakuno in the forehead and said, " We'll have lots of fun this Friday Sakuno-chan,I assure you" Sakuno blushed a little, the only thing she can do was to rest her head on her senpai's chest and murmured, "aishiteru... Shusuke-kun", after that he doozed off and fall into a wonderful dream...

END OF CHAPTER

Hope you enjoy! I really hope…

And please submit a review… Thank You!

-nineyroldie-


	4. Crane of Love

Author's notes: GinGaara: I am getting really crazy with your thumbs up! I love it! RedKitty909: I've just read your review today but don't worry a gift is revealed in this chapter, the others would be disclosed in the next chappies and I hope you're not angry with me, you seemed so pissed off when you gave that review, I just hope you're not... Kira wolf354: That review was also awesome and I've read your Tennis no Ohjisama random talk show and it's good! luvcloud307: We're in the same boat; I still don't know who will end up with the adorable Sakuno but anyway thank you very much for your review lotsaluv! Mou'Ikka: Your review made me laugh "Bugged out Eyes" haha and know what? Your pen name reminds me of that song from Naruto, if I'm not mistaken it was Kanashimi wo Yasashisa ni? Haha, Thanks again! Enjoy reading everone!

Chapter 4

The Crane of Love

Ugoiteru toki no naka

Meguri aeta ne you and I

Afuredasu kono omoi

Kirenaiyou ni atatamete

Kira me…

"Moshi Moshi"

"Hey! Sakuno It's me An"

It was lunch time, Sakuno decided to eat outside the school building for she doesn't have someone to eat with, Tomoka had been absent since Thursday last week because she have chickenpox and Sakuno doesn't have the slightest clue when she'll come back. She was deeply fast asleep under the Sakura tree when her cell phone rang.

"Oh! An-chan, daijobu?"

"I'm fine, I just called you because I'm wondering if you would like to come with me at the fireworks festival at Hikarigaoka tonight?"

"Fireworks festival?" Sakuno repeated

"Yeah, and don't worry we will have some companions, aniki gladly took my offer and he said that he'll bring Kamio and Shinji with him

"Ahm… Okay then" Sakuno said happily, "demo… could I also bring a friend with me?" she continuingly asked

"Friend? You don't mean that loud girl who dedicated her life cheering for Echizen?" An said in an exasperating voice

"No, no An-chan, Tomoka have chickenpox so she couldn't come" Sakuno said ignoring An's sniggers, "I'm thinking of bringing Shusuke-kun with me"

"Shusuke? Fuji? If its him or any other it's fine" An said

"All right then An-chan I'll come" Sakuno said happily

"Ok, I'll meet you up in front of ParaKiss store by seven then and oh! Kimono's the legal outfit, dewa mata!"

"Ki… Kimono?! Demo… An-" Sakuno exclaimed

It's useless. Her friend cut of the line. Sakuno sighed heavily; she was still looking at her cell phone when she suddenly noticed the stuff rabbit hanging from it, looking at it made her smile, Gakuto was the one who gave Ruka (as what Sakuno would call the said stuff) as a souvenir from their unforgettable Hyotei outing, she then remembered that she haven't told An about her going out with the whole Hyotei tennis team excluding of course the Ferris wheel thing with Atobe, she knew An would just be infuriated because for her Hyotei was just a bunch of girl breakers, Sakuno really wanted to prove that she's wrong but she doesn't know how, she sighed again and let the thought slipped of her mind, she glimpse at her watch to see that it was just half past twelve, " I still have time to ask Shusuke-kun then" she muttered to herself and hurriedly packed of her things and headed towards Fuji's classroom.

Half panting, Sakuno reached her senpai's room and slowly poked her head inside. She saw a wonderful scene: Her senpai, Shusuke Fuji, being cornered (no!), harassed (no!), tortured (no!), tormented (yes! That's the right word to describe it! Or is it?! Whatever) by some girls who were asking him if he could_ possibly_ eat lunch with them. (In your dreams)

Fuji, who is one heck of a charismatic sadist, was still implausibly calm with the scene, actually he seemed not to listened or even noticed the girls who were wrestling each other just to get his attention, sorry you girls! His attention was now stolen by the adorable culprit: a remarkably beautiful cute girl who have unbeatable twin long braids!

Fuji walked towards Sakuno, ignoring the girls who were all wondering were their prince will go, one of them saw Sakuno, she nudged the girl beside her who did the same to the other and so on, they all gave Sakuno fatal glares which she just ignored, she always got thousands of glares and hundreds of death threats schoolwide or not whenever she would talk with any regulars from the tennis club, millions if Kikumaru alone hugged her, billions when she had lunch with any _one _of them and infinite when she's spotted enjoying an outing with the team. It's a puzzle to every regular including the mighty tittle-tattler Sadaharu Inui, how she managed to discount _all_ of it since they saw her as a shy and quiet girl.

Anyway, Fuji greeted Sakuno with his usual gentle-inside-evil-outside smile then asked her the reason of coming all the way to his classroom.

"Anou… Shusuke-kun, can I… can I ask you a favor?" Sakuno initiated

Fuji looked curious but then he said, "As long as it's for _you_"

"Hai"

"Ok, what's the favor then?"

"Ahm… would you… would you… come with me… at the fireworks festival tonight?" Sakuno asked shyly

"The one that will be held at Hikarigaoka?" Fuji asked smiling

"Ahm… Hai, demo how did you know Shusuke-kun?" Sakuno asked with a questioning look

Fuji grinned devishly and said, "The whole team was talking about it this morning, Eiji and Momo urged everybody to come and we all agreed even Tezuka but it doesn't stopped him to make Eiji and Momo run a hundred and ten laps"

"Oh my, poor Eiji and Momo-senpai, but could I…"

"You are very much welcome to join us Sakuno-chan, the team would be very please especially that cocky boy" Fuji said as if he read Sakuno's mind

Sakuno blushed; she knew who that cocky boy her senpai was talking about, after all that boy _used to_ be her crush up until her last year in middle school, but it's over now, her feeling towards the world renowned Prince of Tennis, Ryoma Echizen, had faded… faded without her noticing somehow…

"Something bothering you Sakuno-chan?" Fuji asked sill grinning

"Ah… no nothing…" Sakuno said, "So then Shusuke-kun, where will I meet you?"

"Well, Oishi told us that its better if we all meet in front of ParaKiss store, he said that it's the nearest to everyone's place" Fuji explained

"That's great then!" Sakuno said joyfully, she noticed the curious look on her senpai and said, "Honestly Shusuke-kun, An-chan invited me over to that festival and so I agree because she told me that Kippei-oniisan will accompany us along with Kamio-san and Shinji-san and I… ahm… asked her if I could bring you with me" Sakuno said looking at the floor so that Fuji will not see her blushing, " and she also told me that our meeting place would also be in front of ParaKiss store" she finished

"I see, that will be fun, Seigaku along with Fudomine will be full of surprises and we should hope that other schools will be there as well" Fuji said, his tone was more like suggesting an evil plan

Sakuno didn't even noticed that her senpai was now making some out of the ordinary views on what will happen on the festival, she was so busy talking to herself when a familiar "nya" came out from behind her.

"Nya, Tezuka's so mean, He let me and Momo run the remaining 47 laps we didn't finish this morning"

"Fuji and Sakuno looked to the direction of the speaker and saw a sweating Kikumaru, Sakuno pitied her senpai's misfortune, Fuji on the other hand walked forward to his friend, patted his shoulder and said, "So did you have fun, Eiji?"

Kikumaru was so tired he hasn't got the energy to argue back, he then saw Sakuno and his face began to brighten. Sakuno had to back off a little because she knew what her senpai was planning.

"Nya, Sakuno-chan's here!" Kikumaru shouted, and to Sakuno's horror again, Kikumaru wrapped her in his unsurvivable hug, okay! now she's earning a million of glares which were all on maximum and boiling point and she's also sure her tomb was being arrange. She was breathless when Kikumaru released her, "it seemed that the magnetic power of the killer glares had gone down a bit" she thought to herself.

"So then, Sakuno-chan, why are you here?" Kikumaru asked innocently

Fuji, noticing that Sakuno can't talk yet because she was still grasping for her breath, was the one who explained to Kikumaru everything, Kikumaru bounced up and down when he learned that Sakuno will be going with them at the festival, Fuji had to cover Kikumaru's mouth as he was attracting lots of attention, Sakuno just giggled.

Soon enough the school bell rang signaling the end of lunch, Fuji and the come back energetic Kikumaru waved her goodbye, they both told her that they'll pick her up before meeting with the others at ParaKiss, Fuji teasingly said that he don't want her to be lost again, Sakuno bubbled up her mouth but just bowed and run towards her classroom.

It was not a bad afternoon for Sakuno; she had passed her English exam and was exceptionally good in her Mathematics class, she answered three-fourths of her teacher's questions, when her class ended, Sakuno, together with a classmate of hers needed to stay for a while to finished their cleaning duty.

"Ok, I think were done now, Ryuzaki-chan" a cyan green haired girl told Sakuno shyly

"At last then" Sakuno replied blissfully

"Anou… you seemed so happy today" said the girl

"Oh, it's because ahm… I'll go to the fireworks festival with some friends tonight, Fuyuumi-chan" Sakuno said softly

"Well, I think those friends are the tennis regulars then" Fuyuumi said, "They always make you happy"

Sakuno nodded and both of them gave out a small laugh, Fuyuumi was the only classmate of Sakuno who was not infatuated with the bishounens of the tennis team so Sakuno can freely talk to her about the regulars without getting deaf, also Fuyuumi was just like her, shy, hesitant and easily gets intimidated, no wonder why they get together.

After their friendly chat, both bade each other goodbye, Sakuno did not go home straight, she decided that she'll dropped by at pink box first to buy some ribbons that she will partner with her pink kimono which she'll be wearing at the festival.

She was humming while making her way to pink box when suddenly someone called her out, She turned her head and was so surprised to see the stoic Kunimitsu Tezuka standing in front of her.

"Ku… Kunimitsu-oniisan!" Sakuno cried out, she was told, ordered rather, by Tezuka himself to call him oniisan, Sakuno was hesitant at first, but Tezuka reasoned out that it's just upright because he, after all, babysat her many times already for the past three years. Sakuno knew he's right and because she was told by her Shusuke-kun that she shouldn't ever in her whole life disagree with Tezuka, she half-heartedly agreed.

"Why are you not home yet?" Tezuka asked sounding like a strict father

"Ahm… well… I'm just going to pink box to buy some ribbons for the festival tonight" Sakuno said plainly

"Aa, Fuji told me you're coming with us with some of your friends from Fudomine" Tezuka said

"Hai"

"Well if you're going to buy some things, I'll accompany you then" Tezuka said briefly

"Anou… You don't have to Kunimitsu-oniisan, I'll just buy some ribbons that's all, and I don-"

"You're not a bother" Tezuka finished the sentence for her

"Ahm… Okay then"

Sakuno entered pink box with Tezuka who attracted lots of attention especially from high school girls, Sakuno was just relieved that they were not giving her murderous glares but she wished they wouldn't looked at her as if she's the luckiest girl in the universe, well, "I mean I'm really not, It's Ms. Riyo Mori, the one who had just been crowned as Ms. Universe, I was rooting for Ms. USA though, its just a damn thing she slipped!" Sakuno thought to herself (nn)

Sakuno wanted to ignore it but she can't, Tezuka noticed her awkwardness and so he gently flinged his arm around her shoulders and told her to start looking for the ribbon she wanted. Sakuno then nodded and moved from isles to isles, it's really hard to choose because all the items in pink box were cute; there are some with unique designs on them, some flowery, hearty, stuffy and George Clooney. It was fun though; Tezuka even helped her to choose from ribbons to ribbons, Sakuno found his taste interesting.

"How about this?" Tezuka asked Sakuno handing out a cuddly pink ribbon with some tennis balls for its design.

Sakuno found it cute and so she agreed, she was about to get it from Tezuka when he suddenly walked past her and headed to the cashier, Sakuno followed him not knowing what her senpai was planning.

"I'll purchase this for you" Tezuka said

Sakuno's eyes widened, " No Kunimitsu-oniisan, I'll be the one who'll pay for it" she said trying to get the ribbon from Tezuka who held up his hand so she won't be able to reach it.

"Mou… Kunimitsu-oniisan, that's unfair, you're far taller than me" Sakuno said not knowing that's she's already clutching Tezuka's shirt, she looked like a kid who wanted her toy back from her older brother, Tezuka patted her head with his other hand and said, " I'll purchase this"

The lady on the counter was amused by the action of the two, even some girls stared at them and started whispering, Tezuka realized that they were attracting some attention and called Sakuno's name in a taut and solid voice, Sakuno trembled and let her senpai buy the ribbon.

"You know what" said the lady at the counter, "You're a cute couple"

Both the teens blushed, Sakuno's face was fuming, "Anou… We're…no-"

"Arigatou" Tezuka barged in while claiming the wrapped package from the lady

They exited the shop with Sakuno still clutching Tezuka's shirt in silence, that's the first time she's been called as her someone's girlfriend, people would often mistake her as her senpai's little sister or sometimes in Inui's case, his daughter. Tezuka on the other hand seemed to looked as if he enjoyed the idea of Sakuno being his so called girl friend, "If only he could give that lady a thumbs up, he'll surely do it" he thought

While walking, Tezuka called the girl beside him who immediately looked up.

"What toy?" He asked pointing to a crane machine

Sakuno looked at the machine and then remembered that every time they'll go out, Tezuka would always get her a stuff toy from the crane, she loved all of it, Tezuka had already given her about 237 toys, all of those have weird names such as Eks Wye, Fetnat, Hester Bester, Dr. Moler, Ratshit and so many more.

Sakuno leaned on the plexiglas of the crane to look for a toy she wanted , Tezuka was pleased that she gained back her cheery attitude, "The crane never fails" Tezuka mumbled to himself.

"Kunimitsu-oniisan can I have the big eyed green monster over there?" Sakuno asked pointing to the certain stuff monster

Tezuka nodded and began to manipulate the joystick, Sakuno looked very excited at the same time impressed, her Kunimitsu-oniisan was very good at cranes, he always gets the target toy no matter how big or small they are.

Vwinnn……… Plop

"Yay! You got it" Sakuno said hugging Tezuka who was very thrilled deep inside

Tezuka got the stuff monster from the hatch then gave it amusingly to the excited Sakuno and asked, "What's its name now?"

Sakuno put her hand to her chin and started thinking, a bulb then flashed above her head and said, "Boogeyman"

"Weird name again huh?" Tezuka said

"Mou… Kunimitsu-oniisan it's not weird! I think it's cute" Sakuno defended holding her new toy tightly

"I'm just kidding" Tezuka said, "I'll take you home now, you still need to prepare for that festival"

Sakuno noticed that Tezuka's eyebrow twitched a little when he said "that festival", she thought that maybe her Eiji and Momo-senpai had gone far when they both urged the team to come.

When they reached Sakuno's house, Tezuka asked if she wanted him to pick her up, Sakuno told him that her Shusuke-kun and Eiji-senpai already volunteered to do it, Tezuka felt a _bit _disappointed but he just nodded and told Sakuno to go inside their house.

Sakuno bobbed, "Dewa Mata Kunimitsu-oniisan"

Tezuka stared at her for a moment before giving his usual nod, but before he turns and walk, he gave her a rare smile and said, "I'm really glad you're coming with us to the festival"

END OF CHAPTER

Hope you like it… I really hope…

And please submit a review… Thank You!

-nineyroldie-


	5. Bombarded

Author's notes: mysweetkat: "a girl ought to have a lot of options to choose from when it comes to choosing a life partner" I love that line of yours and thank you very much for dropping a review, luvcloud307 and GinGaara: I hope you will like this chapter and thank you for supporting me since I've started this story, thumbs up and lotsaluv!, The Gandhara: Your review made me feel that I really should continue writing Thank You! And 1FujiEijilover: Haha... I would really like to know if you will like the upcoming continuation of Chapter 5... Haha. Enjoy reading everyone!

> The continuation for this chapter was added...

Chapter 5

Bombarted

It was a very starry night, the moon was on its full and the sparkling stars were like gleaming jewels, for some people, the night would have been the most wondrous thing they ever laid their eyes on but for the Seigaku regulars and some Fudomines' namely the Tachibanas, Kamio and Shinji, the magnificent beauty in front of them was much more wondrous than any other stars combined together.

Fuji and Kikumaru who was standing beside the source of astonishment where smiling impishly to their friends who were all busy gazing at a certain ginger haired girl by the name of Ryuzaki Sakuno. The Seigaku regulars along with Fudomine had been standing in front of ParaKiss store for a couple of minutes now because they were all waiting for Fuji and Kikumaru who were the ones that volunteered to pick up Sakuno and when the three arrived all of them were astounded by the way elfin little Sakuno look.

"She's undoubtedly certainly unquestionably undeniably beautiful" the bishounens buzzed to themselves, Even An, who was full of pride for herself, had to admit that if she just had the magic mirror with her it will incontrovertibly state that Sakuno was the fairest in the land.

Who can't help but to adore her? Sakuno had her hair in its usual braid but she held it up into an elegant knot at the back of her head allowing everyone to see her endearing face clearly, also she was wearing a floaty cherry pink kimono that suited her peach-like smooth skin.

Tezuka noticed the pink ribbons he had just bought for Sakuno earlier, despite the stoic face that he was wearing right now along with Kippei Tachibana, it did not stop Fuji and Shinji to see their respective buchou's twinkling eyes. Kamio, who as everyone knew, very besotted by An ever since he met her, now looked as if he had just found a new angel to love, his love rival, Momoshiro seemed to think of the same way, actually, he looked very regretful of pairing Sakuno to his cold-hearted kouhai, Echizen Ryoma. Oishi, Kawamura and Kaidoh all had their jaws dropped but they were trying to hide it from the vivacious Inui who was now scribbling notes in his data book at a cheetah-like speed.

Oishi theorized that it is because Inui was trying to take down every single word that the man beside him was rambling. Ibu Shinji was muttering nonstop under his breath, he was completely complimenting Sakuno's appearance, Inui considered this as a big splash for the whole High School Tennis World to know, he thought of naming it as "Ibu's Spot of Weakness", he's absolutely positive that the first one to know the issue will be his childhood tittle-tattler friend Renji Yanagi of Rikkai and St. Rudolph's gossip King, Hajime Mizuki, seconded only by his chitchatter heir, Satoshi Horio respectively followed by Yamabuki's saccharine Dan Taichi.

With all the gazes and mutters, a cocky boy was the one most affected by Sakuno's manifestation, Echizen Ryoma was staring at the girl who used to support him through his tennis journey, he felt disgusted about himself of not giving Sakuno the care and attention she really deserves.

The silence was deafening that An could not stand it any longer, she spoke up and asked everyone If they even have the plan to go to the festival.

The others nodded and so they set off. An then neared to Sakuno and started teasing her.

"I was surprised to see the whole Seigaku team you know" she said, "I never knew you hold such power to invite them all"

"Ahm… Lie An-chan, the team really has the plan to go to the festival even before I asked Shusuke-kun" Sakuno replied

An grinned cruelly and said,"Shusuke-kun huh? You mean Fuji? I sense something which we should call love"

Sakuno flushed, "Lie An-chan, it's not what you think, Shusuke-kun is my tutor in English and since we hang out together recently he decided that I should call him by his given name"

An laughed this time, "You sure are easy to bait Sakuno" she said then whispered, "Anyway I'm glad I'll have the chance to talk with Momoshiro today"

Sakuno giggled, she knew An like her Momo-senpai for so long now and vice verse but her Momo-senpai was too shy or rather too innocent to confess his feelings for An and An is not quite the type of girl who'll do the first move.

They were walking for about ten minutes now, An brought out her cell phone and started texting someone, Sakuno looked around at their companions while An was texting, she saw that the boys were all in chatting mode, Tezuka, Fuji and Tachibana were talking about some sort of training camps, Inui was walking near them so as not to miss such fergilicious issue.

Kikumaru was asking Oishi if they could have that game where you catch fishes with small nets once they arrive at the festival, Oishi who was an obsessed fish-lover reluctantly agreed though he knew that there are few consequences to take if Kikumaru would be the one to get the fish for him, that is he will be the one paying for Kikumaru's playing fee, his money was not wasted though, thanks to his partner's quick reflexes and superior vision that he can catch 3 fishes in just a blink of eye.

Shinji and Ryoma on the other hand were discussing about a new kind of grip tape that was being sold at the same store were they first become grip tape rivals. Since that day, the two of them found themselves wanting to buy the exact same thing that the other would also like to buy whenever they went to the said store, they had fix their problem in many different ways but it only ended in the same result: Ryoma always win.

Alternatively, Kaidoh, Momoshiro and Kamio was the only group that was not in a conversation, yes, they were not talking to each other they were glaring at each other. Momoshiro was supposed to be peacefully talking with Kawamura about his dream of being the best cycler in the world when Kamio suddenly barge in and told Momoshiro that his delusion would never ever come true because he doesn't even knew how to ride a simple bike, he then reminded him that he, Takeshi Momoshiro, now a second year at Seigaku high school was the one who broke his newly fix bike back when they were still in Junior High.

Kaidoh heard this and agreed on Kamio's _compliment_ but he also told Kamio on how stupid he was to let a dim-witted guy like Momoshiro to borrow his bike, Kaidoh then called Kamio a rhythm freak, and there it was the porcupine-mamushi-freak glaring contest began, it was even completed as an official competition when Kawamura joined them as a referee.

Thankfully they arrived at the festival site in time even before Kaidoh release his venom, Momoshiro to discharge his quills and Kamio to show off his detrimental sensation. Also, thanks to Kikumaru's eerie voice that the three stopped heating up, Kikumaru was eager to have fun and hurriedly asked Oishi to search for a stall that manage the game he wanted, Inui then scanned his data book and told everyone that the festival would start at exactly nine giving them hour and half to wander around, he also informed Oishi and Kikumaru that there is a ninety-eight percent possibility that the booth they're searching is in the northwest side in front of a Takoyaki store.

Hearing the word takoyaki, Momoshiro started drooling and came out wit a bright idea of asking An if she would like to buy some takoyaki with him, An happily nodded, seeing this Kamio insisted that he will also come for he does not trust Momoshiro and may do something bad to An. This made the two fired again, fortunately both of their buchous held them back, Tachibana then decided he'll accompany his sister along with Momoshiro and Kamio, Kawamura willingly offered that he'll come in case the two get out of control.

Inui chose to take a look around to see if he can find some interesting "stuff", he advocated Kaidoh to come along with him who lackadaisically agreed leaving Tezuka, Fuji, Ryoma, Shinji and Sakuno behind.

When they were nowhere in sight, Fuji looked at his remaining companions and sarcastically said, "I never expected this"

The others looked at him with inquiring faces.

"What do you mean Fuji-senpai?'Ryoma said without even looking at his senpai

"I mean to say that everyone here was involved in a love combat for Sakuno-chan" Fuji explained

Hearing her name Sakuno suddenly said, "Mou Shusuke-kun stop joking!"

"I'm not joking" Fuji said calmly leaning his forehead on hers, Tezuka and Ryoma gave Fuji a "you'll be dead if you don't back off" glare, Shinji started cursing the tensai under his breath, he had been feeling something special to Sakuno since An introduced her to he whole Fudomine team, despite being odd he's still a human, so feeling some sort of "love" for a girl is just normal.

"Fuji-senpai Ryuzaki's not deaf, she can hear anything you say even if you don't lean on her" Ryoma said coldly

Fuji just smiled and _slowly_ back off from Sakuno making the three more furious. Realizing that his other companions were warming up to blow him he let them to cool off by offering Sakuno that he'll just buy her some cotton candy.

"It's okay Shusuke-kun you don-"

Sakuno was cut off by Tezuka, Ryoma and Shinji who all said the same thing, "Let him buy you the cotton candy", Sakuno felt the harshness in their voices and so she let her senpai buy her some, Fuji was appraisingly still calm even the three boys were eyeing him as if he's a smuggy scumbag, he was even smiling broadly for he was proud of his accomplishment, the accomplishment of annoying his rivals.

Sakuno was watching as Fuji leave, she was surprised when Ryoma patted her on the shoulder and asked if she love bunnies. She was confused, Ryoma never really asked her questions like that, actually he never asked her questions in addition she was even sure he never cared on what things she like or not, regardless of her confusion she nodded and hurriedly asked Ryoma his reason of asking her.

Ryoma then pointed to a booth managing a dart game which has a big cute bunny for a prize, Sakuno was easily attracted to the stuff toy and run off to have a closer look at it, Ryoma smirked and just followed her, Tezuka and Shinji on his back.

The man who was managing the booth looked very entertained by the way Sakuno stare at the huge bunny, he then asked her if she would like to play and try to win the prize.

Before Sakuno can nod, Ryoma had already placed a ten yen coin in front of the man and said that he'll be the one to play. Sakuno wanted to object when another ten yen coin was dropped by a man on the other side of her. She and Ryoma looked up and saw a fiery Shinji.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ryoma asked Shinji callously

"Can't you see? I thought you're a very smart guy, I guessed that your greatness is just within the tennis court, Anyway, If you really don't know what am I going to do even if you did see me place a ten yen coin in front of this man, I'm heartily going to tell you that I'm going to play so I can get Sakuno-chan that stuff bunny" Shinji said in his muttering tone

Ryoma cleared his ear before replying, "I'll be the one getting Ryuzaki that stuff bunny" he said laboriously

"I don't think so" Shinji said briefly

Sakuno was worried that Ryoma and Shinji might fight so he asked her Kunimitsu-oniisan to do something.

"A man gets stronger when he has a competitor let them both play at the same time and see who'll be the one to get you the bunny" was Tezuka's reply

The manager of the booth also agreed on Tezuka so he brought out another dart game, and started explaining to Ryoma and Shinji the rules of his game.

"Your target score is 1000" the man explained, "The highest point that you can get once you throw a dart on the dart board is 100, I'll both gave you fifteen tries to earn the targeted point, is that clear?"

Ryoma and Shinji replied with an "Aa", the man then gave each of the two fifteen darts, they both went into their position and was looking ready to get their princess' beloved bunny.

"So if I could hit hat darn 100 in just 10 tries that means I'll get the bunny for Sakuno first" Ryoma thought to himself, "All right Ryoma, aim for it!"

"Echizen I won't lose this time" Shinji told his opponent

"Che, Mada Mada Dane"

Sakuno watched with Tezuka from behind, the man then signaled go and both Ryoma and Shinji threw the dart in a tennis serve form. Ryoma used his twist serve and the dart went on the dart board as if it was aiming for the whole board itself. Shinji exploited his kick serve and the dart acted like a tennis ball that bounces upward and to the right towards the board after hitting the ground. Both scored bull's eye. Sakuno and even Tezuka were astonished with what the two had showed.

"They're both good, so Sakuno-chan who's your bet?" Fuji who had just returned asked he little girl then gave her the cotton candy

Sakuno claimed it and warmly said thanks to her senpai, "Anou… I really don't know" she said looking at Ryoma as the boy used his Twist Smash

"What? You still don't know who will win? Tsk tsk, now now Sakuno, you should appreciate those boy's efforts just to win your heart" Fuji said peevishly earning him a "shut up" glare from Tezuka which he just ignored, he even bit some of Sakuno's cotton candy which was near her mouth making Tezuka's glare deepen. Sakuno, conversely, did not seem to notice what her Shusuke-kun had just done.

"Anou… I'm sure that Ryoma-kun and Shinji-san were just being a little workaholic today that they wanted to exercise their body by playing that game and giving me the prize would just be… ahm… a way of showing their kindness" Sakuno said trying to convinced the sadist tensai who was of course unconvinced, Fuji even tried of teasing her more when Tezuka spoke up.

"Fuji that's enough" he said, his voice was in a command tone

Fuji smiled but followed Tezuka's _order_, he doesn't want to add punishment for himself beside from the 300 laps that he knew he'll get tomorrow. He decided that he'll just watch the two boys who were now unleashing their true powers just to get the bunny stuff.

So far, Ryoma had used all his Drives and was now performing the Bing Bang Serve while Shinji uses techniques which were not his own, he threw the dart with Kirihara's Knuckle Serve and scored another bull's eye. The two were so good that they were attracting so much attention. Sakuno did not even notice that the others were back and were now cheering for their friends. Momoshiro and Kamio were cheering their best friends in between eating; Kikumaru and Oishi who were both holding a plastic full of colorful fishes were also doing the same thing, An, Kawamura, Kaidoh and Tachibana were just quietly watching the two competitive boys, and Inui was doing his usual scribbling business, the crowd that was watching Ryoma and Shinji's actually-become-a-match was getting thicker and noisier, Sakuno was sure that some of them were now placing their own bets, she was still wandering her eyes on the crowd when she saw a familiar boy with a green headband watching Ryoma and Shinji interestingly.

"Dan-kun!" Sakuno called out making Tezuka and Fuji to look also at he boy who was now walking towards Sakuno.

"Konbanwa desu, Sakuno-chan, Fuji-san, Tezuka-san" Dan greeted politely

Tezuka nodded, Fuji smiled and said, "If Dan is here, it means that some Yamabuki is here as well"

"Hai" Dan confirmed, "I'm with some of my senpai-taichi"

Fuji gave out a small chuckle," Interesting" he said

"I never knew this festival is popular" Sakuno said

"Banji-sensei was the one who told us to come here; he said that it might be good to relax a bit before the District Preliminary for this year begins" Dan said, "And by the way Sakuno-chan you looked so wonderful tonight"

"Ahmmm… Arigatou Dan-kun" Sakuno said flattered, "Any way Yamabuki seemed to be really ready for the upcoming tournaments"

"Not really" Dan said humbly scratching his forehead, Sakuno noticed Dan's wristwatch, it was the same as hers, she was about to point it out when the crowd shouted heavily, it seemed that the two boys were showing off every skill they have, Sakuno did not expect this, it was only to get her a bunny, that's all. She and the others were getting really excited to see the outcome of the marvelous dart game match, she was busy examining every shot that the two boys were exerting when suddenly someone pulled her by the wrist and started dragging her away from the noisy crowd. She wanted to shout so that her companions would be aware that someone was trying to drag her but with the noisy crowd her small voice was outspoken.

WAS SHE REALLY KIDNAPPED?

Sakuno looked up to see the face of her kidnapper, unfortunately the man had his back on her but Sakuno thought that he was familiar, very familiar, " An orange-haired man?" Sakuno rambled to herself, the thought then came to her, She was still unsure if she really knew the man but she tried her luck and called out, " Sssss… Sengoku san?"

Sengoku Kiyosumi turned his back and was bewildered at the same time a bit happy to see a beautiful girl looking a bit scared in front of him.

"NANI?!" Sengoku exclaimed, he thought he had the hand of his kouhai, Dan, why was now he facing a familiar looking girl?

Sakuno had to forcefully get her wrist out of Sengoku's grip as she was frightened by his shout. Sengoku noticed that he scared he poor girl and so he apologized.

Sakuno just nodded and decided to be straightforward (for the first time in her life) and asked Sengoku why the heck was he dragging her.

Sengoku hurriedly explained to Sakuno that it was not really her that he was suppose to get, it was his kouhai, Dan, he mistaken her for him because they have the exact same wrist watch.

"Oh… I see Dan-kun, huh?"

"You know him?" Sengoku said surprised

Sakuno laughed and started explaining to Sengoku that Dan was a good friend of hers also she old Sengoku that she knew him because she had seen him play tennis for a thousand times now and that she got to know him more when she voluntarily help in the Junior High Tennis Player's Assembly held three years ago.

"I see, now I know why you seemed to be so familiar to me" He said, "If I'm not mistaken, you must be Ryuzaki-sense's granddaughter then?"

Sakuno nodded again, she was glad that she needed not to explain to Sengoku that sort of information, she was getting tired of always saying that she's her obaasan's granddaughter, it was really tiring.

"May I ask what's your name then?"

"Oh… Sakuno, Ryuzaki Sakuno" she said sweetly

Sengoku blushed as Sakuno smiled at him, her angelic face made him loose control on his self that he bent over to hold her hand and asked if she wanted to go on a date with him.

Sakuno was surprised that someone could be that fast but because Sengoku was now wearing his puss-in-boots' like pleading eyes, a superb kind girl like Sakuno, agreed.

Sengoku jumped up with joy, "By the way can I call you Sakuno-chan?"

"Ah… Hai" Sakuno said

"Kawaii" Sengoku murmured, he really can't believe his luck of being alone with a stunningly pretty girl who agreed to go on a date with him, poor guy if only he knew hat Sakuno's such an innocent girl that she didn't think of their date as a real date.

"All right then Sakuno-chan, are you ready?!" Sengoku said as he raised his hand up into the air

"Hai!" Sakuno said, imitating Sengoku's actions

"All right then" Sengoku said, he then held Sakuno's hand and started running in a very fast speed, Sakuno tripped over and over that Sengoku carried her up in a bridal style and continued running; it's really great that Sakuno was now used on being carried by good-looking bishounens in different styles. (The girl's so lucky!)

Sengoku stopped in front of a man; Sakuno looked around and noticed that they were near the lake.

"Will you rent a boat?" the man asked Sengoku kindly

"Hai" Sengoku said cheerfully

The man led Sengoku who was still carrying Sakuno on a boat that was now floating on the lake, Sengoku paid the man and jumped over the boat, he then placed Sakuno gently at the other end, as he secured himself of the paddles. When the man was sure that his customers were now sitting safely, he pushed their boats and shouted, "Enjoy!"

Sengoku started paddling while Sakuno wandered around her eyes to have a look around, there were lots of couples also riding the boats and were sweetly talking to each other, Sakuno can feel a warm feeling rising on her, she can feel the different colors of the wind caressing her soft cheek, the minty smell of the leaves made her relax. Sengoku was eyeing her interestingly and was really surprised when the girl talked to him.

"Sengoku-san, of all things, why did you chose to ride a boat?" she asked harmlessly

"Because that was most couples do when they were on a date" Sengoku said briefly

"Da… Date?! But we're not on a date Sengoku-san and we're not a couple!" Sakuno said hastily

"Then let me show you how we will look like a couple" Sengoku said smirking evilly

Sakuno was confused on what Sengoku was planning and she was really surprised when Sengoku delivered out his plan. Sengoku stopped paddling and leaned closer on Sakuno, he then pushed her lightly causing her to fell backwards, Sengoku then placed himself on top of her and started caressing her cheek.

Sakuno was dumbfounded, "What on Earth is Sengoku doing to her?" she rambled to herself, The man's hands were now travelling on Sakuno's body, she was feeling more and more uncomfortable in their situation, Sengoku's chest was pressed hard against hers, and she can even feel his breath drawing nearer and nearer. He was about to kiss her when suddenly…

WHAM!  
Sengoku and Sakuno were shocked by the loud impact. Sengoku hurriedly sat up to see what happened and figured out that they bumped into another boat.

"Gomenasai" Sengoku apologized to the couple riding the other boat.

The other couple bowed at once, they also apologized and explained that they bumped into them because hey did not see their boat for no one was paddling.

Sengoku said sorry again, it was his fault after all that no one was paddling their boat, the man from the other boat just raised his hand signaling that it is okay but was surprised when he saw Sakuno sitting up.

The girl from the other boat placed her hand on her mouth and said mischievously, "Oh my, if you're doing that ecchi thing, better do it in a bed not in a boat"

Her companion and Sengoku's face turned blazing red, the man told the girl to be quiet and bowed lightly, Sengoku on the other hand apologized for one last time and paddled their boat back to the boat house as fast as he can, he then scooped up Sakuno, who still doesn't have a clue of what that stuff means, and run hastily to the crowded festival.

"Anou… Sengoku-san, what did that girl mean by that stuff?" Sakuno asked ingenuously

Sengoku's face turned bright red again but he warmly smiled to Sakuno, patted her head gently and said, "It's nothing all right, Forget about it"

Sakuno can feel the warmth is his voice that she just agreed and decided to change their topic.

"Sengoku-san, could I… could I have a water balloon?" she said vaguely

Sengoku sighed. He had known so many girl by now but this was the first time he met a stunningly pretty girl with such a unique amusing personality, he was so busy gazing at Sakuno that he didn't even noticed that he was blushing heavily, he sighed again and said, "All right, I'll get you one then"

Sakuno was glad, her festivals were not really complete without the multi-colored water balloons, she was about to pull Sengoku to a stall where she spotted a familiar wide basin full of rainbow colored water balloons when a half worried half relieved voice called her name.

She and Sengoku looked back and saw a panting Fuji, followed by an unusual worried Tezuka and Tachibana, then the non stop glaring contest participants Momoshiro, Kaidoh and Kamio, the customary concerned mother of Seigaku, Oishi, the overdramatic looking Eiji, the exceptional still scribbling Inui, the innocent Dan-kun and the two breathless boys who were both carrying a huge rabbit on their shoulders.

An hurriedly hugged her friend causing Sakuno to almost go to heaven.

"An, Sakuno's dying" Kippei Tachibana said seriously to his sister

An then released her friend but her position was immediately taken by Tezuka, Fuji, Ryoma, Sinji and Kikumaru who hurriedly encircled around Sakuno and repeatedly asked her if she's fine.

Knowing that the commotion was his fault, Sengoku clearly explained what had happened, the others felt their temperature rising to him for doing such reckless actions, It was his luck again or maybe Sakuno's natural kindness that saved him. The girl stood in front of him and kindly told everybody that he is really a good person, she even told them that he kindly agreed to get her a water balloon.

The others all controlled themselves from punching Sengoku for Sakuno's sake and agreed that he get Sakuno's water balloon first before watching the soon to start fireworks festival.

Sengoku then led them to a booth and asked Sakuno what kind of balloon she wanted, Sakuno pointed to a strawberry print one and Sengoku stylishly get it, Kikumaru also insisted that he wanted one and pleadingly asked his kouhai, Momo, to get it for him in exchange of a free lunch. Being a food maniac, the porcupine-head guy obeyed his senpai without hesitation. Kamio and Kaidoh also decided to play the game with the reason of not letting Momo show off that easily.

Everyone had a good time, after getting themselves water balloons, they headed straight to the fireworks site, when they arrived at the said place, Sengoku neared Sakuno and whispered Thank You to her, Sakuno doesn't know what he mean but knowing that Sengoku's a very good friend of hers now, she nodded and smiled. After that the guy backed off and stood next to Dan ho waved cheerfully at Sakuno.

Sengoku's place was taken right away by Ryoma and Shinji who both gave her the bunny that cause a lot of trouble, Sakuno accepted it warmly and gave Ryoma and Shinji a big sweet thank you hug. Kikumaru saw this and also want a hug from Sakuno but Tezuka and Fuji strictly restricted him, (poor cat!), Kippei Tachibana noticed that Shinji had blushed and decided he'll tease his teammate later, An thought that it is better if Sakuno would be near the two boys for a while so she stood in between Momo and Kamio who at last stopped arguing.

As they heard the siren signaling that the fireworks would start soon even Inui stopped his writing addiction, all of them looked up at the sky and witnessed a priceless bravura scene, Sakuno was so happy she came with her friends in this unforgettable festival, it would really be unforgettable, for when the third firework was shot up in the sky, Ryoma and Shinji held her hand at the same time and did not let go of it until the festival was over.

END OF CHAPTER

I Hope you like it!... I really hope...

And please submit a review... Thank You!

-nineyroldie-


	6. Rivals

Author's notes: Phew! It's been a long time! Gomenasai for those people who waited for this chapter for so long, anangelwithnoname: sankyuu, sankyuu, sankyuu very much for that wonderful review, I never thought that I sound mature with this story ajeejee! Anyway, I'm now 10 because I had my birthday some time ago, Selfless Love: woe! "update soon" with a smile, I love it! Enjoy reading!, Kira wolf354: here's the sixth chapter! I hope you'll love it and still be hooked with it! Sankyuu so much kira-chan!, ToHoMiKoGiRl: you've got a very nice name! and woe! Your welcome! And thanks also for dropping a review!, Karin ochibi-chan: "Sugoi" I love that word! Ajeejee, I always say it in school! Hora!, Ahotep: here you go! This chapter is the opening gate of Rikkai Dai!, 'kawaiihannah: "drop-dead tennis players" can I use it in my story? It's cool, Ajeejee…,angel101devil: hie friend! Woe! Can I really call you that?! Sugoi!!!, Princess Sakura93: Find you! Another Rikkai fan! Ajejee! Here you go! Rikkai's finally making their way here! Hope you enjoy reading!, catseye007: ajeejee… the one who fired me up to finish this chappie, sankyuu so much!, and off course, MiNKy307, GinGaara and The Gandhara: Lotsaluv, Thumbs Up, woe! I miss to see and read those things! I miss your former name luvcloud307! The Gandhara thank you so much for always dropping a review! One-of-a-kind!Ajeejee!

Enjoy Reading Everyone!

Chapter 6 - Rivals

It was an early Tuesday morning and Sakuno was lying on Fuji's bed watching dust swirl in the chink of sunlight.

Sakuno has been with Fuji the whole time last night because right after the very unforgettable festival when Fuji decided to take Sakuno back home alone even it earned him some muttering curse from Echizen and Ibu and a protesting groan from Kikumaru, Ryuzaki-sensei phone him asking if he could look after her precious granddaughter for about 3 or 4 days because she would have to attend a very important and unavoidable matter.

Fuji of course agreed, (he would never miss a chance to be with his beloved Sakuno), Ryuzaki-sensei was very glad and with a last word of thanks to Fuji, she cut off line. Fuji then told Sakuno about the sudden change of events, the girl was quite shock but it was no big deal for her because she has stayed with the Fujis' many times before. It was just the so-called unfortunate fate that she and Yuuta did not meet during her stays with them.

And so here Sakuno was, scratching the itchiness out of her eye, she was getting impatient with it and was rubbing it hardly when a hand prevented her from continuing. She looked up and saw her Shusuke-kun carrying what seems to be a basin of water.

"Don't scratch it, you'll irritate it more" Fuji said while scooping Sakuno and placing her on his lap, the girl just nodded, Fuji then get a chair and place the basin of water on it and started clearing the morning stars out of Sakuno's eyes.

After 10 minutes or so, Yoshiko, Fuji's kind and dedicated Japanese mother, came in, greeted them genially and told them that breakfast is ready. Both teens nodded and she went out of the room simply. Fuji then let Sakuno out of his lap and told her to get change because he is going to take her with him to somewhere interesting since she doesn't have classes because Seishun Gakuen is celebrating the male freshman and sophomore's week and so obviously only those mentioned above have classes.

Sakuno wanted to ask where are they going but knowing him she just remained silent and let Fuji to wait for her outside his room. She hurriedly got to the closet where Yumiko kept her clothes, chose a baby blue blouse and a periwinkle skirt, got out of the room and went down to the kitchen to eat a very hearty breakfast.

After they were both full, Fuji bid goodbye to his mother who was the only one in the house because Yumiko had gone to work early, Sakuno on the other hand kissed her on the cheek which she returned with a hug and a backpack full of delicious food.

"Where are we going Shusuke-kun?" Sakuno asked the handsome browned hair guy walking beside her.

"You'll see when we arrive there" Fuji replied,"Are you tired? I can carry you if you're already exhausted Sakuno-chan"

"Lie Shusuke-kun I'm fine, I just really wanna know where we are heading"

"Is that so?" Fuji said "All right then, I'll tell you, we're going to Rukia Dome today because of a senior high school tennis players' exhibition game, all schools in Tokyo and Kanagawa are invited which means that the said event will be something like a heat up convention for all the tennis schools in Tokyo and Kanagawa."

Sakuno was really amazed and said, " Woooooow… Shusuke-kun, it is really interesting! Does it mean that Fudomine, Hyoutei, St. Rudolph and Yamabuki will be there too?"

"As well as Rikkai, Jyosei Shounan and Rokkaku, Sakuno-chan" Fuji replied, "You seemed very excited on meeting the other schools, I wonder why?"

" Oh that, It's just that I'm excited on meeting the other players from the other schools like Kippei-oniisan from Fudomine, Kisarazu-san from St. Rudolph, Sengoku-san from Yamabuki and in Hyotei…"

"Hyotei? You know some players in Hyotei?" Fuji asked curiously

At this point of time, Sakuno remembered that she hasn't tell anyone about her face up and date with all the regulars from Hyotei but since her Shusuke-kun was the one asking, she cannot deny the thing to him and so she breathed heavily and began telling Fuji the whole story.

After that, Fuji's eyes were wide-opened; he cannot believe that his dear Sakuno had gotten out with some guys whom not that close to her i.e Keigo Atobe. Fuji then had a vision of Tezuka finding out that Sakuno had gone out with Atobe, he don't want to think about it, their captain might let them run a thousand laps if EVER he finds out…

"Better be quiet" Fuji said to himself

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

"We're here" Fuji said pointing to a very enormous building bearing a sign, RUKIA DOME: Enter at your own risk, and below it a smaller banner was hanged up saying: 23rd Senior High school Exhibition Match.

Sakuno was still examining the sign when Fuji gently pulled her inside the building and there they found three familiar faces, one having a stoic face and wearing the Seishun jacket who is of course the respected and talented captain of Seigaku, Kunimitsu Tezuka, along with him were also prominent people in the world of high school tennis, a tall stern-looking man who is wearing a blue cap was standing next to Tezuka, next to him was a shorter guy with a rather feminine look, and they are the two of the three demons of Rikkai Dai, Genichirou Sanada and Seiichi Yukimura.

Fuji greeted the three with his usual smile, Tezuka and Sanada nodded curtly but Yukimura greeted Fuji back and returned his warm smile. He then noticed Sakuno and looked at her with utmost inquisitiveness.

"Is she your girlfriend Fuji?" Yukimura asked

Tezuka and Sanada looked at the direction of Sakuno, Tezuka's eyes enlarged a bit, he did not noticed that Sakuno was with Fuji and doesn't even knew what the hell is she doing with him.

"Girlfriend?" Fuji repeated and then he looked down on Sakuno who looked like she was hugging him but actually she was just tugging his shirt in a very tight manner, she seemed to be scared to Sanada and seemed to be paralyzed, but still she heard what Yukimura had said and was afraid of what will her Shusuke-kun will answer. The tension was rising up on her for she can see her Shusuke-kun grinning evilly, and this only mean one thing: He's going for it.

Fortunately, before any rumors arise, Tezuka was the one who answered Yukimura's question and said in a very firm voice a brief "NO", Yukimura, Sanada and Fuji noticed the heavy voice that Tezuka brought out, they pretended as if nothing unusual happened but deep inside they were all craving for something. Finally, Sakuno got some courage to speak up, she walked towards Tezuka and said hello to him, the older boy asked if she's fine and Sakuno beamed and said "Hai". This arouses Yukimura's interest to the cute girl and he started questioning Fuji about Sakuno.

"Fuji, How are you related to her?" Yukimura inquired

"Her? You mean Sakuno-chan?" Fuji said, "She's Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter"

"You mean your coach?" Yukimura said, his tone in normal but Fuji can tell that he's quite shock about the information"

"She don't look like her?" Fuji asked

"ahmm… yeah… she's gorgeous" Yukimura said eyeing Sakuno

Fuji sighed deeply and muttered, "I've got myself another rival"

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Sakuno was still on conversation with Tezuka and Sanada can't help to notice that his long-time rival was talking a bit calm and soft to the girl, well, even he will talk in that manner if the one he's talking to is a shy, calm, and even Sanada won't admit it a stunningly pretty girl. Sanada seemed to be out-of-place in this scene for he was the only one who doesn't have a talking partner, Fuji and Yukimura was still having their own world of conversation about Sakuno and Sanada wondered if ever their buchou has been infatuated by the girl. Fortunately, help came and a group of lanky guys arrived, one has his face buried on a book, the other has his white hair tied up on the middle and was walking as if he would like to trip anyone, the third is a bald man who was giving a green bubblegum to the red-haired guy walking next to him, the fifth one was very recognizable with his black hair and twin strip bangs and the last was also a red-haired guy who run hurriedly towards Sakuno the time he saw her.

"Sakuno-chan!!!" Kikumaru shouted gleefully

Sakuno, Tezuka, Sanada, Fuji and Yukimura looked up to the group who had just arrived lead by a running Kikumaru who was prepared to inter Sakuno in his death hug, Kikumaru's companions, Hiroshi Yagyuu, Masaharu Niou, Jackal Kuwahara and Bunta Marui were all shocked, It's very rare to see a senior high student that acts like a kindergarten, Oishi was the only one not surprised by Kikumaru's actions for he was of course immune to him for almost 6 years now.

The Rikka Dai regulars greeted their buchou and fukubuchou as well as Tezuka and Fuji, Kikumaru was the only one who ignored them because he was busy savoring the softness of Sakuno.

" Oi Kikumaru don't kill the girl" Marui said pitying the almost-collapsing Sakuno, Kikumaru discharged Sakuno and saw her turning green.

"Ah… gomen, gomen Sakuno-chan! My intention is not to kill you just to show my love for you, that's all" Kikumaru said innocently

The others just heave a sigh, and Masaharu Niou asked Oishi, "He never change isn't he?", "Not a bit" was Oishi's reply

"Heee… your so innocent Kikumaru, don't you know that it is a very huge loss if this girl die because of your hug?" Marui said kneeling down on Sakuno and scrutinizing her, "Look how cute she was! And she she…"

"She?" asked the others except for Tezuka and Sanada who just wore a questioning look.

"She smells like chocolate!" Marui exclaimed, he then smelled Sakuno near the neck and said, "You're not only cute but also sweet!"

Sakuno doesn't know what to say so she just smiled, Marui was hit by this and he blushed like an apple. Niou noticed this and an evil trick occurred to him, Marui will be dead later.

Realizing that Sakuno was now catching a lot of attention, Tezuka called her and Sakuno got to him hurriedly, Fuji also neared to her while Oishi prevented Kikumaru from giving Sakuno a death hug again, Yukimura and his whole team also arranged themselves and soon enough their last members that they were waiting arrived with another team that will add unnaturalness in Sakuno's day, Inui, Yanagi and Kawamura arrived with the Hyotei Team lead by none other than Keigo Atobe.

The first sight to him made the others lips' twitched; they thought that Atobe's personality was incomplete without the enormous Kabaji on his side, Sakuno also thought of the same idea.

Now, when the Hyotei reached them, Atobe's dark blue eyes falls immediately on Sakuno's direction, He was glad to see her based on the quick widening of his eye and the sudden grin that formed in his face, he walked towards her, bent a little and said coolly, "I never thought I'll be seeing you here princess" and without hesitation he kissed Sakuno full in the mouth again…

Tezuka, Fuji, Yukimura, Marui, Sanada and the others were very stunned, Gakuto clenched his fist but tried to control himself, Shishido was very angry and wanted to kill Atobe for what he does but Kikumaru was the most affected of all, being a child-like he was he did not control himself and burst into anger, "OI! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Atobe looked on him with slothfulness on his face and said, "Kissed her"

This made Kikumaru angry; he was about to punch Atobe when…

"KIKUMARU!" Tezuka said in a clear tone.

Kikumaru paused and he looked at Tezuka and he met his captain's unfamiliar eyes, it is not full of anger unlike his but determination, determination to beat Atobe not in a way that measures only power but in a way hat measures talent and skills…

Sakuno was halfway to crying, Yukimura saw this and he got near her and asked Tezuka's permission if he could accompany Sakuno to a comfort room or somewhere where she can calm a bit, Tezuka agreed and Yukimura lead Sakuno out of the heating crowd and brought her outside the building near a fountain.

Yukimura let Sakuno sit on the pad of the fountain, there she started crying, Yukimura pulled out his handkerchief and he flump it gently on Sakuno's eyes.

"There, there, Ryuzaki-chan, the others will also be sad if you cry you know" he said

Sakuno looked up on him and said between sobs, "But why would they be sad too?"

"Because they love you and if anyone loves someone dearly they can feel what their special someone can feel" Yukimura said, feeling proud of himself about saying something like that.

"Really?"

"Really"

"All right then, I'm not going to cry anymore because I don't want Obaasan, Tomo-chan, An-chan, senpai-taichi and my other friends to feel the sadness I feel" Sakuno said hiccoughing.

"That's the spirit" Yukimura told Sakuno

"Arigatou ne Yuki… Yuki"

"You can call me your Seiichi-oniisan or Seiichi- kun, whatever you like"

"Ahmm… can I call you Seiichi-oni… oniisan?" asked Sakuno who was getting back her cheerfulness

"Of course, I'll be really happy"

"Yay!" Sakuno exclaimed, she hurriedly stood up and bowed to Yukimura, " Arigatou gozaimau Seiichi-oniisan!"

Yukimura felt something weird on his insides, the only thing that he do is just to give Sakuno a peck on the cheek and lead her back inside the building where they both wished that everything was now settled….

END OF CHAPTER

Hope you enjoy! I really hope…

And please submit a review! Thank You!

-tenyroldie-


	7. A Day at Rukia

Author's Note: It's been a long time! This is it, I was able to update atlast, thanks to all those who gave reviews for the last chapter. Fuku-chan, GinGaara and OrangeAce, thanks for the inspiration and cheers! Take Care and Enjoy Reading Everyone!

The continuation for this chapter was added...

Chapter 7 – A Day at Rukia

" Kunimitsu-oniisan!" Sakuno exclaimed to the handsome guy who was leaving a room. Yukimura and Sakuno got back in the Main Hall of Rukia Dome just to find out that everybody's gone, Yukimura theorized that each team might be in their respective guest rooms by now for the exhibition games will about to start, and so the two of them tried the nearest room and well, fortunately it was the Seigakus'.

Tezuka looked at the direction of his caller and found his kouhai hand in hand with Rikkai Dai's gorgeous captain: Yukimura, the scene undoubtedly irritated him but being the famed stoic Tezuka, he did not give any reactions instead he walked towards them, bent a little and serenely asked Sakuno if she's okay.

"Hai!" Sakuno said brightly, "It's all thanks to Seiichi-oniisan!"

Tezuka was 'deep inside' happy but the term 'Seiichi-oniisan' was caught by his ear, his face twitched by the sound of it but it regained its unemotional composure quickly so it was not notice by either Sakuno or Yukimura, despite being abraded a bit, he still thanked Yukimura for what he did. The other captain just smiled and said it was his pleasure to be a help to _cute_ Sakuno, after that he courteously excused himself for the reason that his teammates might be getting impatient in waiting him.

Tezuka nodded curtly and Sakuno thanked and bowed at him before he left. When Yukimura was nowhere to see, Tezuka told Sakuno to go inside the guest room because the regulars are all worried about her, the girl followed without hesitation and when she pushed the door open, she found her senpai-taichi in a very serious yet worried face.

" Ahmmm…" Sakuno began, the regulars all looked up and were surprised to see Sakuno, and the smug on their faces magically faded and was replaced by a tint of smile.

"Sakuno-chan, we're glad your fine" Oishi said

"Coach will surely kill Atobe when she finds out what he did to you" Kawamura said jokingly

"There's a 50 chance coach will find it out and if she _ever _finds out, there is a 100 chance that we won't be able to take part on the tennis tournament because of these reasons, 48 that she will skin us alive, 35 that she will personally banned our team from joining and 17 that we will not be able to have any opponents because she beat them herself" Inui stated.

"That won't happen Inui-senpai" Sakuno said calmly, "I won't let grandma banned you from playing in the tennis tournaments because of me"

"69 per-"

"It's all right now Inui, we got your point" Tezuka said, indicating Inui to stop his 'based-on-my calculations-mode'.

Fuji chuckled and thanks to it Sakuno noticed him, he simpered at her and signaled that she sit with him, Sakuno approached the tensai and was about to sit beside him when he grabbed her by the waist and placed her on his right leg, Sakuno had to hold on Fuji's neck so as not to fall, Tezuka eyed Fuji with anger but then again he did not show it unfortunately this time the data master noted it, he jotted it quickly in his precious handy-dandy notebook, it says, " _Ryuzaki__ is the girl in __Tezuka's__ dreams_"

Sakuno was a bit uncomfortable with her position on Fuji, she was held like this by him before but they were alone at that time, she doesn't know what the other regulars will think especially her Kunimitsu-oniisan. She tried to muster some courage to ask her Shusuke-kun to let her down but when she finally had it, a woman's voice sounded on the speaker: Attention Please, all tennis players should proceed to the conference hall for the program will start, I repeat all tennis players should proceed to the conference hall for the program will start, Thank You.

"All right, we should be going" Tezuka said commandingly

"Hai" said the other regulars

Sakuno was at last freed by Fuj but he still hold her hand so as not to lost her (I wonder if it is really the reason), "At least its better" Sakuno thought to herself, they were about to exit the guest room when Sakuno noticed her Eiji-senpai in a very rare sad mode.

"Seeing Eiji-senpai in that state made me feel bad" Sakuno mumbled to herself as she unknowingly let go of Fuji's hand. The other Seigaku regulars were now all outside leaving Fuji, Sakuno and Kikumaru behind.

Fuji looked curiously at Sakuno, he felt a little pain in his heart for Sakuno just let go of his hand without further ado but because he quickly realized what was worrying Sakuno, he decided that it is better if she do approach Kikumaru, he then followed the others outside and shut the door closed.

As Sakuno approached Kikumaru, she called out his name softly, the acrobatic player stared at her for a few minutes and when he suddenly realized who it is, he shouted, "SAKUNO-CHAN! WHEN DID YOU COME BACK?! ARE YOU OKAY?! DO YOU STILL FELL UNCOMFORTABLE?! Or-"

"Anou… I'm fine Eiji-senpai, please do-" Sakuno's words were cut when Kikumaru pulled her towards him and wrapped her in his warm embrace.

The atmosphere was very strange for Sakuno, her heart was beating so fast and her temperature is rising so sudden, somehow her Eiji-senpai's hug seemed completely different from his legendary death hug, "Eiji-senpai's cuddle is so warm" Sakuno notion to herself, "And his fragrant scent is very relaxing".

"Sakuno-chan" Kikumaru said still hugging Sakuno but now leaned his face on hers that their noses touched each other.

"What is it Eiji-senpai?" Sakuno asked naively, the girl was not even feeling any awkwardness on her position with the red-head guy.

"I… I know this is not the right time but… I can't hold my fee..., what I mean to say Sakuno-chan is… I… I love you" Kikumaru finished his sentence.

Sakuno stared at him before ingenuously saying that she loved him too. Kikumaru was surprised by the sudden reply so out of curiosity he asked the little girl again for confirmation.

"Of course, I Love Eiji-senpai" Sakuno said unaware of this kind of situation normal girls will anticipate for.

Kikumaru's ayes enlarged and it was evident that he was happy by Sakuno's reply but what quickly disappoint him is the continuation of Sakuno's sentence, " I love you as much as I love the other senpai-tachi" the girl finished and then smiled still oblivious of what her senpai mean to say.

The acrobat player was speechless. Now, the only thing he wanted to do is to shut his head in an oven and never come out again, he wanted to punch his own face plus to get rid of his signature band-aid on forgetting that Sakuno was the cutest but most oblivious and dense person he ever laid his eyes on. How he wished that a genie would appear and grant him his only wish; that is for Sakuno to attain the 'common sense' of normal girls when it comes to romantic things, he knew the girl is very smart when it comes to other things, "Why on earth is she an alien being when it comes to love? Aaaaarg!" Kikumaru thought.

"Is something the matter Eiji-senpai?" Sakuno asked as she was getting confused on her senpai's actions.

Kikumaru shrugged, he leaned closer to Sakuno and held her by the waist so that she will not stumble and said, "No, nothing [nya!".

Sakuno giggled at her senpai's childishness, unfortunately or [maybe fortunately for her, this activated Kikumaru's teenage hormones, the boy involuntarily pressed his lips against Sakuno ,who was so shocked that she could not do anything, and started savoring his kouhai's lips. Kikumaru, at this point of time, realized why Atobe was so excited on getting a hold of Sakuno, he thought of apologizing to him, but it could be done later, Sakuno is currently his business.

-Prince of Tennis-

"With atomic hellos and meteoric regards, I welcome you all to the 23rd Tennis Exhibition Match!" shouted a man with a pale, pointed face who was doing the commentary.

Screams, Hoots, Shouts and even Shrieks can be heard from the crowd.

The Rukia Dome was unbelievably fully packed with fan boys, fan girls, reporters, business men and women and many other tennis-related VIPs.

Sakuno, who was sitting at a very special front seat along with several maids and butlers (courtesy of Atobe) was very curious on how these people got heard of the event when she, the granddaughter of a highly-respected tennis team, student of a well-influenced Seishun Gakuen and even if she doesn't know about it: wanna-be girlfriend of some of the hottie bishounens, doesn't have the slightest clue about it if not for her Shusuke-kun. She was murmuring words of stupidity under her breath while covering her ears firmly because the shouts and yells are not yet fading and she was afraid that the loud impact might cause her eardrums to explode.

The little girl was still preoccupied when suddenly she heard (even though she had a tight cover on her ears) a group of girls shouting: "Yaahhhhh… Kikumaru-samaaaaa, Marry Me Kikumaru-samaaaaaa!"

Sakuno's heart poundered fastly after hearing her senpai's name. She was also blushing hardly even if she was trying not to; it did not help either when she decided to ignore the screaming girls and just focused herself to the tennis regulars who were now entering the stadium team by team. Sakuno can't help but to glance at Kikumaru.

"Why am I feeling this kind of weird thingy? Is it because of what Eiji-senpai did lately? But it was just like what Atobe-san did to me twice! And I still don't feel weird about him!" Sakuno said to herself while rocking her head that made her look like she has a headache like physduck in pokẻmon.

The maid who was sitting next to Sakuno was starting to get worried about her, if something happens to his master's princess (as what she heard him call the little girl), she'll be dead.

"Ahmm… Anou… Young mistress, are you okay?" the maid inquired.

"Yo… Young Mistress? Me?!" Sakuno said, pointing to herself.

"Er… Yeah" the maid replied in a "who-else-tone".

Sakuno blushed, bowed and said, "I… I'm fine, no need to worry "she finished her sentence and put on a smile.

"Okay then, but please young mistress, if you're… er… not feeling well, don't hesitate to say it"

"Ah… sure, thanks and please stop calling me young mistress, I'm just an ordinary girl you know" Sakuno said uncomfortably.

The maid frowned, "I cannot do that you-"

"Just call me Sakuno"

"Bu-"

"No buts please" Sakuno finished briefly and then smiled again.

"Okay then, Sa… Sakuno… sama"

Sakuno sighed when she heard the maid's last words but at least it was better than being called as a young mistress, so being a bit satisfied, she shifted her gaze to the almost starting exhibition game.

Each team was now facing three tennis courts and a huge technical board that will show the line-up of the players. When the commentator said the word "Roll!" the board suddenly produced an ear-catching sound that made all the people in the stadium to focus their gazes on it. After about 10 seconds, the names of the players who will play each other were visible from the board in a reddish-yellow color.

The Board shows:

SINGLES

Court 1

1st Batch - Kisarazu Atsushi VS. Kisarazu Ryo

2nd Batch - Niou Masaharu VS. Yagyuu Hiroshi

3rd Batch - Kajimoto Takahisa VS. Oshitari Yuushi

Court 2

1st Batch - Kuwahara Jackal VS. Marui Bunta

2nd Batch - Shishido Ryou VS. Mizuki Hajime

3rd Batch - Tezuka Kunimitsu – Genichirou Sanada VS. Yukimura Seiichi – Fuji Shusuke

DOUBLES

Court 3

1st Batch - Kawamura Takashi – Jirou Akutagawa VS. Inui Sadaharu – Yanagi Renji

2nd Batch - Oishi Shuichiro – Saeki Kojiro VS. Sengoku Kiyosumi – Wakato Hiroshi

3rd Batch - Tachibana Kippei – Mukahi Gakuto VS. Atobe Keigo – Kikumaru Eiji

The crowd were awed by the pairings, silence covered the stadium for a minute, but when the commentator shouted, "Let the first three matches begin! ", the audience were snapped back from their reverie and all started cheering for their beloved tennis players.

The first batch of players went to their respected courts immediately. The crowd went wild again because of the excitement to see their favorite players, the stadium was about to burst when fortunately, the commentator asked for a little 'minimization of volume' because he has something to announced.

When the stadium was a bit peaceful, the commentator finally spoke, "Each of the players will be given a thirty-minute game to win, of course, the player or the players who will get more number of sets will win, if ever the score is a tie after the thirty-minute time allotment, there will be no overtime match, instead the game will be declare as a tie.

Some words of disappointment were heard from the crowd.

"Just 30 minutes for each batch?" Sakuno heard a girl from behind, "I wouldn't have the chance to see Tezuka-sama for a long time"

"Me too but its okay than having no chance at all to see him right?"

"But we've travel all along from Kanagawa…" the girl from behind said.

Sakuno felt sad for the girl, she now realized how lucky she was to see and talk to her senpai-taichi almost every day (or maybe more than seeing her senpai – taichi) She sighed.

"I wish Kunimitsu-oniisan will be much nicer to his fan girls" Sakuno murmured to herself.

-Prince of Tennis-

"Pok"

"Pok"

"Fight-O Atsushi-sama! Ryo-sama!" yelled a group of fan girls to the two boys in Court 1.

The Kisarazu twins were really having a tough fight. Sakuno had witnessed them playing each other before, the one with the long hair (she forgot his name) was the one who won back then, but for now, Sakuno was sure that the Kisarazu twin she met last Sunday (she also doesn't know his name) will not let his twin brother to win the second time around.

"Sugoi Marui!"

"Don't let him beat you Jackal!"

"O-M-G! Honey bunch sugar plump pumpy yumpkie yumpkin Jackal, don't let that bubble head boy get you!" a group of Okama said.

Sakuno's attention was caught by these loud hoots and funny cheers from people who were eagerly watching the match in Court 2. The two Rikkai Dai players, not to mention, partners in doubles, are having a very exciting match. Marui Bunta has just used one of his special shots, the Tsuna Watari, in which the ball rolls horizontally along the top of the net, much like a tightrope walker.

"He's good and his playing style is like Jirou-samas' " the maid beside Sakuno said.

Sakuno smiled and said, "That's because Akutagawa-san idolizes him"

"Really? How did you find out Sakuno-sama?"

"Baka Hitomi!" the maid who was sitting next to Hitomi suddenly said, "How wouldn't she know? She's young master's girlfriend!"

"I'm not an idiot Makoto! And Sakuno-sama is not young master's girlfriend, she just told me that!"

"Hmff Really?!" the maid named Makoto said, "If she's not young master's girlfriend, then why has he ordered us to stay by her side, follow her orders and keep her safe?"

"Simple, it's because young master likes her! _He_ likes her! But she is not _yet_ his girlfriend, do you understand now?" Hitomi snapped back.

"Ok then, but how does she know all about that 'idol thingy'?"

"Why don't you asked Sakuno-sama yourself huh?" said an irritated but grinning Hitomi.

Makoto rolled her eyes but she followed what her co-maid had told her, she turned her head to Sakuno and asked her in a polite manner, "Er… Sakuno-sama, well, I think you heard all the things we are talking about here lately, so ahm… if you please"

Sakuno smiled sweetly and said, "Gakuto-kun was the one who told me, we bumped to each other last week and we had a little bonding and the like".

By the sound of Gakuto's name, another maid barged in, her eyes were enlarged and shining and Sakuno was sure that she was craving for something, "Wow! Sakuno-sama! You are so lucky! For all this years, I always dreamt of having a chance to talk with Mukahi-sama!"

"Baka Satoe!" Makoto said again (At this point of time Sakuno thought that Makoto has the habit of calling her acquaintance 'baka'), "You know your dream would not come true, why? Because I've heard from the butlers that accompanied young master last Saturday in his amusement park that Mukahi-sama gave a special girl a very cute present! And you know who that girl is?" Makoto continued her sentence peevishly.

"Who?" Satoe and Hitomi asked, Sakuno on the other hand was still very oblivious on whom the girl was and so she wore a questioning look.

"It's Sakuno-sama!" Makoto said proudly.

"NA… NANI?!" Sakuno, Satoe and Hitomi shouted that the other maids and some audiences look at their direction.

"Is that true Sakuno-sama?" Satoe asked tearfully.

Sakuno looked at Satoe worriedly, the maid was halfway to crying, but because honesty is one of Sakuno's attitude, she said, "Ahm… it's true", Sakuno saw that Satoe was really going to cry so she continued her sentence hastily, "demo… it's not a big thing Satoe-san, Gakuto-kun does not mean anything when he gave that present to me, and he's not the only one who gave me a present, everyone did, so I think it was just ahmmm… a group souvenir or ss… something".

"Really?" Satoe inquired

"Hai" Sakuno said airily.

"Bu.." Makoto tried to say something again when Hitomi grab a hold of her mouth and whispered to her with a note of hysteria in her voice, "Shut up you baka, your making things difficult for Sakuno-sama!" , Makoto shivered when she heard Hitomi's firm voice and so she remained silent to Sakuno's relief but Satoe seemed so interested about the gifts so she asked Sakuno about it.

"Sakuno-sama, can you tell us what gifts did young master's friends give you?"

"Ooooh… nice question Satoe, she's right Sakuno-sama, please tell us" Makoto talked again. Hitomi just sighed but she too was interested on the gifts so she just remained silent and let Sakuno talk.

"Eto… Ok then, now, let's see, Kabaji-san gave me a pair of pink star clips, Ryou-kun gave me a pink billiard ball, Gakuto-kun gave me a stuff bunny for my cell phone, Choutarou-kun gave me a music box that is shaped like a sakura and ahm… well… Wakashi-san gave me a … a …. compass"

"Compass?" Satoe and Makoto asked.

"Hai"

"Why on Earth does he gave you a compass?!" the two maids said chorally.

Sakuno blushed and said, "Because I'm not good at directions"

The three maids were trying not to laugh and so they just remained silent and focused back their attention to the fiery matches. The game in Court 2 was finished; the score was 7-5 with Marui winning the game with the help of his Tecchu Ate and Jikansa Jigoku which really awed the spectators. The crowd was clapping their hands for the two players who were now shaking hands. The game in court 1 on the other hand was nearing to end. Atsushi Kisarazu has the advantage with a score of 5-3. In Court 3, however, the match is still to heat up. The score so far is 3-3, Kawamura and Jirou were not slacking off against the doctor and professor, and they were showing Inui and Yanagi what they really got. Jirou was using his playing specialty: Magic Volley in which he awesomely combined with Kawamura's Hadokyuu, the two analyzers were having a hard time with their opponents but the other players who were watching thought of the same idea: A data will soon be collected and put to use.

Sakuno was having a good time watching the match but she was really getting thirsty, "Talking with Hitomi-san, Makoto-san and Satoe-san was a bit fun but they surely exhaust me with their questions" she mumbled to herself, she then informed Hitomi that she will just buy a can of soda, the maid said that she would just be the one to buy for her but Sakuno protested and said that she can do it herself. Hitomi just nodded and so Sakuno set off for the vending machine somewhere inside the building.

-Prince of Tennis-

"Mou… this is unfair… Why is this vending machine so tall, I can't reach the choice buttons" Sakuno said softly to herself. She has just reached the certain machine after about fifteen minutes of searching.

"I am really thirsty, I wished Kunimitsu-onnisan or Shusuke-kun is here, with their height, they can surely reach the choice buttons" Sakuno continued to murmur to herself, she did not even noticed a certain young man who is coming on her direction.

"Excuse me little one, do you need some help with that vending machine?" the young man said.

Sakuno looked up and saw a familiar brown-haired kind-looking man staring at her.

"Eto… Ahm.."

"Do you need help with the vending machine?" the young man repeated.

"Ah! Ahm…well… yeah, I can't reach the choice buttons" Sakuno said shyly.

The young man smiled and neared to the vending machine and asked Sakuno what drink she like, the little girl said that she wanted strawberry-milk, the guy smiled and push the button, a can of strawberry-milk then fell from the compartment, the young man picked it up and handled it to Sakuno.

"Arigatou" Sakuno said staring at the man; she had really met him before.

The guy patted her head and said, "It's nothing, you know what, you really looked familiar to me, what's your name?"

"Oh! Ryuzaki… Sakuno Ryuzaki"

"Ryuzaki?" said the man who put his fingers on his chin, "Ah! Now I know! Your Seigaku's coach granddaughter ne?"

Sakuno nodded.

"I see, well what are you doing here inside, should you be out there in the stadium to cheer for your senpais?"

"I just got thirsty and so I decided to buy a can of soda"

"Aah.." said the guy briefly, "Well, I should be going now, my match is soon to start" the young man said as he turned his back to Sakuno, the guy was about to walk away when Sakuno held his jacket sleeve. He lloked at Sakuno who was also looking at him.

"Etou.. oniisan, thank you again, and… ahm… can I also ask your name?"

"Oh!" the guy look surprised, "How rude of me, gomen, I'm Takahisa Kajimoto."

"Ah!" Sakuno said clapping her hands on her forehead, "That's why you look familiar! You're one of Hanamura-sensei's students!"

"That's right" Kajimoto said, amused on how Sakuno talk to him, "Well then little one, I should really be going now and I think you too should do the same thing".

Sakuno was about to reply when a voice from nowhere called Kajimoto, they turned to the direction of the caller and found Josei Shounan's vice captain, Wakato Hiyoshi. The guy neared them and told Kajimoto some things after that his eyes fell on Sakuno and his orbs suddenly twinkles!

"What a cute girl!" Wakashi said excitedly.

END OF CHAPTER

Sweat + Nosebleed + Continued shouting from my big brother + Groans! hahahaha...

I hope you like it... sorry if I did not meet your expectations...

but please submit a review... Thank You!


	8. Encounters and Confrontation

Author's note: Thank you for the reviews everyone. I read all of it last night and I was so happy that it boost me up to make this chapter. Also, thank you for all those who add my story on their favorite list and for those who submitted names, I need them so badly, It was very much appreciated. So sorry for the late update.

Enjoy reading everyone!

Chapter 8

Encounters and Confrontation

"Hey Kaji, what's up with you? It's not like I'm going to rape her or something, I just want to have some friendly chat with her, ne cutie?" a determined Wakato begged his team captain as Kajimoto turned his back on him, carrying little Sakuno protectively in his arms. The girl was frightened by the sudden outburst of Wakato and Kajimoto can't help but to worry about her.

"She's not the girl you'll flirt up with Wakato." Kajimoto said as he narrowed his eyes unto his teammate. Wakato felt a tinge down to his spine, he had never seen his team mate glare that deeply and he was sure of it but because he was such a stubborn guy, he continued his pursuing business.

"No." was Kajimoto's brief answer.

Sakuno can feel the hardness in his voice and she was now starting to feel a bit scared of him too but she would rather stay with Kajimoto than Wakoto who keeps on winking at her. Sakuno does not know if she was uncomfortable or annoyed with it.

"But Kaji! Just a friendly chat! That's all I want, really!" Wakoto said a bit louder, "And rephrase that sentence of yours, I am not going to flirt up with her, only perverts do that! And ahm… well… I am not that kind of guy!" he continued, trying to convince himself that he was really not.

Sakuno found this amusing and gave out a small chuckle. Both Kajimoto and Wakato noticed this, the Jyosei team captain blushed while his vice captain blinked and after a minute of processing what he had just seen, he smiled evilly and said, "See Kaji?! She found me entertaining, that means she's not scared of me, ahh… I think you're the only one who thinks she's terrified of me, hmmm… or maybe you're just jealous?! Aja! That's it! You're jealous Kaji!".

"And why would I be jealous?" Kajimoto replied with his left brow raised.

Wakato put his hand on his chin and said bluntly, "Well, er… I think because you have a crush on her! Ne, ne Kaji, you have crush on her right? Ooh… you're blushing! See? Wait till I tell the whole team."

Kajimoto had enough of it but he can't deny the fact that he is blushing, he doesn't even knew why, "I'm just embarrassed." he said to himself.

"Leave her alone or I'll tell coach you arrive 5 minutes before your match."

Wakato gulped, if ever their coach finds that out, he was sure that he'll get lock-up training for 6 months! That means no going out, cell phones are not allowed; focus on tennis and no dates!

"Gyaah! Never! It won't happen!" Wakato shouted.

"Then leave Ryuzaki-chan alone"

Wakato pouted and said, "Kaji is so mean, well, I guess that's just how he acts when he's in love!" and with that Wakato winked at Sakuno for the umpteenth time and set off towards the stadium.

Kajimoto flushed again. "You'll be dead later Wakato."

"Anou…" Sakuno started.

Kajimoto almost forgot he was still carrying Sakuno and when he turned his head on her direction, he come face to face with her that their lips slightly brushed each other. The young man set apart immediately knowing that it is the righteous thing to do at the moment. He then apologized to Sakuno who, as dense as ever, did not even realize what had just happen.

Kajimoto was surprised that Sakuno was still in her usual state, usually, if a girl her age had such a physical contact with a young man, she would make some reaction, but here Sakuno was, staring candidly at him with those chocolate-brown eyes that made Kajimoto's body to heat up.

"Anou… Kajimoto-oniisan, you can put me down now. Wakato-san is nowhere to see." Sakuno said.

Kajimoto seemed to regain his consciousness and put Sakuno down.

"Arigatou Kajimoto-oniisan." Sakuno bowed to the older guy.

"It's nothing." Kajimoto said, "Er.. do you want to grab some snack? I'm kinda hungry. "

"Don't you want to watch Wakato-san's game oniisan?" asked Sakuno peculiarly.

Kajimoto's face turned red again. "How foolish of me to forgot Wakato's game!" he burbled to his self.

"Ah… yeah. Well, what I mean is, let's grab something to eat first before going back to the stadium. There's a few minutes left before the matches began anyway. So would you like to come?" he inquired shyly, hoping that the young girl would agree.

To his relief, Sakuno beamed and nodded. He led her to a burger stall and they bought two chickenburgers, he also bought Sakuno some crepes that she had fun eating.

Kajimoto was very curious on how comfortable he is with this little girl, but he shrugged it off for his mind was set again to the almost beginning 2nd batch of matches, and on his own match in the 3rd batch. He then asked if Sakuno had finished her food. The girl said yes and so Kajimoto held her hand gently and lead the way to the stadium, he even asked her if she wants to sit in the players' bench so as to have a better look on the matches and so that he can see her a bit closer but Sakuno politely refused the offer.

"I'm fine in my seat Kajimoto-oniisan, I can see the game properly from there."

If Sakuno was just an observant person like Inui, she would never missed Kajimoto's disappointed reaction. But because she's an innocent as ever, she fail to notice that she again, attracted a future lover of hers without even breaking a single sweat.

And before Kajimoto and Sakuno part ways, the young man murmed this softly in Sakuno's ears, "You know, some things seems to be close yet, they are bound to be beyond our reach."

With a gentle smile to Sakuno, he prodded her head and set off in the palyers' ground leaving the girl behind.

-Prince of Tennis-

Screams and yells greeted Sakuno as she returned in her seat beside Atobe's maids. Hitomi greeted her happily and told Sakuno that her senpai Inui along with the one named Renji Yanagi won their match. Sakuno was glad for her senpai but she suddenly remembers that her Kawamura-senpai was Inui's opponent.

"Oh well… A game is like that. It's either you win or lost but I think Kawamura-senpai don't feel like he lost." Sakuno said to herself as she looked at her burning senpai who was still smiling and eagerly watching the matches that has just began.

As she was watching her Oishi-senpai serve the ball in Court 3, she abruptly felt that someone was watching her, Sakuno then wandered her eyes and saw her Kunimitsu-oniisan looking at her, without thinking, she smiled at him and the older teen nodded back.

"I wonder why Kunimitsu-oniisan was looking at me?" she said softly. "I'll ask him later."

-Prince of Tennis-

"That was a superb cool shot there commenced by Niou-san of Rikkai Dai! No doubt he belonged in such prestigious school! "The commentator shouted as the trickster launched the tennis ball high in the air where it creates a super high lob shot.

Fans and supporters of Niou screamed and cheered for their idol.

"But Yagyuu-san is not slacking off! Woah! That was a very fast return! "The commentator stated lively as Yagyuu unleashed his golf swing. "The matches here sure are fiery! Now let's take a look at Court 2 with Shishido-sana and Mizuki-san!"

"Shishido-sama ganbatte!" shouted a group of girls who were drooling over Shishido as he used his Counter Punch play style against Mizuki.

Sakuno was quite unsure but it seemed to her that her Ryou-kun looked annoyed about his screaming fans. She then forged a hypothesis that tennis players can be snobbish sometimes to their fan girls and boys. She can't help to think about her Kunimitsu-oniisan as one of the examples. Sakuno giggled at the thought of her oniisan signing autographs for the fans when a thought suddenly struck her.

"Oh! I wonder why Kunimitsu-oniisan was staring at me lately?" she said looking at her senpai, who was still unexpectedly gazing at her!

"Eh? Why is oniisan still staring at me?" she asked herself as she ingeniously do some uncomfortable gestures that gave Tezuka a hint that she was feeling a bit uncomfortable about the situation, with this, Tezuka gestured for Sakuno to come to the player's exit grounds through eye contact, Sakuno may be bad at directions but she can easily interpret what thoughts those eyes want to express.

As she saw her oniisan walked towards the exit, she excused herself again to Atobe's maid saying that she needed to go to the comfort room; she knew that Hitomi was not that convinced with her reason but going to the players' grounds is more important, who knows what her Kunimitsu-onnisan will do when she did not show up.

-Prince of Tennis-

With a miraculous luck, Sakuno found her way to the grounds without getting lost; she spotted her senpai with his back on the wall and arms crossed. Tezuka noticed her easily and walked towards her.

"20 minutes." He began.

Sakuno wore a questioning look signifying that she did not understand what he said.

"20 minutes." Tezuka repeated, "You got off the stadium for 20 minutes, where did you go?"

"Etou… Ah! Where did I go? Ahm… I went back to the building to buy some drinks oniisan but I did not find the vending machine easily and when I found it, the choice buttons are so high that I could not reach it."

"Of course" Tezuka said, "And then?"

"And then… anou… Kajimoto-oniisan help me out." Sakuno said lowly while playing with her hands.

"Kajimoto? From Jyosei?"

"Hai"

"I see."

"Sorry for making you worry oniisan, I didn't mean too." Sakuno said as she bowed in front of the older teen.

Tezuka sighed. "This is not the first time you made me worry over you so I guess I'll give you some punishment then."

"Eh?" Sakuno thought to herself, "He's not thinking of making me run a hundred laps right?!"

"You're going to accompany me in the Aquarium after the exhibition matches." Tezuka said, "I will be the one to talk to Fuji about this matter."

"Waah? Aquarium? Oh… All right then." Sakuno said.

"Also…"

"Also?"

"Be sure to have lunch with us, I believe Atobe's people are assisting you." Tezuka said firmly.

"Ah… Hai! I'm going to make sure I eat lunch with you." The girl replied.

Tezuka sighed. "Alright, you can go back to your seat or… do you want to seat with us?"

"Ah… I'm fine with my seat oniisan, really."

-Prince Of Tennis-

The second batch was already finished when Sakuno got back to her seat, Niou and Yagyuu's match was a tie, Shishido won against Mizuki, and Oishi and Saeki won against the lady lovers: Sengoku and Wakato. Kajimoto was eyeing his team mate deeply, Wakato saw this but he ignored it and started whistling and cheering for the third batch along with Sengoku and Niou.

"You three are very noisy." Marui snapped.

Niou eyed Marui evilly and said childishly, "Why, why, our cake lover Bun-chan is a bit laid back today, Is it because cute Ryuzaki-chan is watching and might see your dark side?"

Marui blushed but before he could say a word, Sengoku and Wakato interrupted.

"NANI?! You mean Marui has a crush on Sakuno –chan too! Mou… Why do I have lots of rivals?" Sengoku groaned.

"Oh.. Oh… so Marui like Ryuzaki-chan too, well… I'm telling you not to go near Kajimoto or else you'll be in a battleground." Wakoto teased.

"You should not talk about others' kohai like that!" Kikumaru barged in.

It's all thanks to Kikumaru's sudden outburst that Wakato was saved from being send to hell, Kikumaru's voice was loud that Kajimoto did not catch what he has just said but unfortunately for Kikumaru, Niou, Sengoku and Wakoto's urge for teasing was turned to him.

"AHA! Kikumaru is jealous! Young love! Young love" the trio said together.

"I'm not Jealous!" Kikumaru shouted while blushing. "And that's my line to Ochibi!"

The other players were laughing on their actions, the others just gave a smile or chuckle, in Tezuka and Sanada's case, they just glared at their team mates for causing such noise but because its their time to play, they kept their cool down and concentrate on their soon-to-start match. Afterall, Yukimura and Fuji are not the type of players to go easy with.

END OF CHAPTER

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